


A Year with You

by kimurasato



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: All Human Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe, M/M, Reversed Age Alternate Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-29
Updated: 2014-04-30
Packaged: 2018-01-21 07:38:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 45,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1542854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimurasato/pseuds/kimurasato
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When his parents plan a business trip that will leave their son home alone over the next year, Vlad isn't happy with the person they hired as a live in babysitter for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. October 21

**Author's Note:**

> I read a short Uta no Prince-sama comic last year, and it sparked this idea. Vlad starts out as 17 while Danny is 23.

It was late October when they met for the first time. The doorbell rang, and he heard the clicks of his mother's high heels over the tiled flooring of the front hall as she went to answer it. Vlad kept his head buried in his homework as he sat in the front room, not caring about what silly socialite was visiting his mother now. There was always some woman coming over to discuss an event or plan for some club activity or schedule a meeting for their knitting and sewing group that Vlad got dragged to on occasion.

"I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up," Mrs. Masters said after she opened the front door.

"Sorry." At the man's voice, Vlad actually lifted his head away from the boring homework he needed to get done for tomorrow. The man sounded young. Very young. Like barely in his twenties, which made Vlad curious about what the man was doing visiting his mother. "I got a little lost on my way here."

"Well, as long as you're here now." Clack. Clack. Clack. Stop.

Vlad turned his head toward the doorway, frowning at his mother in the black dress she wore that cut off just above the knees and her black high heels that looked like they were killers on the feet. Her dark hair was drawn back into a neat bun that had a slight streak of graying hair down the middle of her head, much like Vlad's own hair. Even in her forties, she was still a lovely looking woman.

But it was the man that caught Vlad's attention. He was a tall, lanky looking man with lean muscles under the tight white shirt with a red spot on the front that he wore. His pants were on the looser side, baggy but not so much that the shape of his legs were completely swallowed by the denim. A cloth duffle bag was slung over one shoulder, and a second bag hung from his right hand. His raven hair was fluffy and messy, wild untamed locks, the bangs brushing just above his bright blue eyes that shone with kindness and mirth. Vlad frowned at the merry smile upon the man's face.

"Vlad, sweetie, I'd like you to meet Daniel Fenton," Mrs. Masters said, and the man, Daniel, waved his free hand in greeting. "He'll be living here over the next year while your father and I are away on that business trip we mentioned."

Vlad stared dully at the man, who looked like an idiot with that stupid smile. He did recall his parents saying something about the business trip during dinner one night not too long ago. There might have been mention of someone coming to watch over him during that time, but Vlad didn't really pay much attention to the conversation. He didn't think he needed to have some kind of babysitter. He would be eighteen soon and was perfectly capable of caring for himself. His parents often had work late in the evening or some kind of function to attend, and he would have to fend for himself for dinner.

"Your father and I will be leaving for the airport early tomorrow morning, so we won't be here when you get up," Mrs. Masters continued talking. "Daniel, here, will also be your tutor."

Daniel laughed a little weakly as he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. Vlad turned his head away, returning his attention to the homework before him. He didn't need a tutor any more than he needed a babysitter. His grades were the best in the school, and he was a shoe in to be valedictorian at his graduation in June. A fact that got him sneers from the other students in his class, most of whom enjoyed picking on him and trying fit his head down toilets or pulling his underwear up over his head. Even an elite school had its bullies, and they all liked to pick on him. He studied hard every night, got his homework done in a timely manner, and always scored top marks on tests and exams. Daniel, meanwhile, didn't look like he was even qualified to be a tutor for anyone.

"It's almost seven," his mother announced as she checked the time on the watch around her wrist. "Dinner will be ready soon. Vlad, why don't you go show Daniel to the guest bedroom?" She disappeared toward the back of the house to check on dinner, which would surprise some of the other socialites that she actually cooked meals herself instead of hiring a cook.

Vlad packed up his books, closing textbooks and piling them into a stack before picking them up, hugging them to his chest. "Follow me," he instructed, none too happy with this whole arrangement that his mother worked out for the duration of their trip. The only reason they weren't taking him along with them was because they didn't want to pull him out of school, one of the top and most expensive high schools in the state. Tuition, of course, already paid for through the year. Vlad passed the man on the way through the front hall to the stairs.

"This is some place you have here," Daniel said, following along after Vlad like some lost puppy as they headed upstairs.

"Why did my parents hire you?" Vlad questioned, throwing a look over his shoulder. He had to wonder how his parents even knew this man, why they would trust some stranger to watch over their son and house. Daniel could be some kind thief. Or murderer! "You look like you're barely out of college."

"My parents are friends with yours." Daniel's gaze kept sweeping over the halls, taking in the grandeur of the mansion owned by the Masters family. "Ah, well, I'll still be attending classes during the day, but I'll be available during the afternoon if you need my help with any homework. Mostly I'm just here to make sure you don't get into trouble, throw wild parties, burn down the house. That sort of thing."

"I think my parents should be more worried about the damage _you'll_ do to the house," Vlad muttered as he stopped before the door to the guest bedroom. Daniel looked like he was probably some sort of slob that didn't know how to pick up after himself. Vlad glowered at the thought that he would probably have to clean up after Daniel to make sure the house didn't go completely to hell while his parents were away. "This will be your room."

Daniel stepped past him and whistled as he looked around the room. It wasn't really anything all that fancy. There was a wardrobe set against one wall, opposite the large queen sized four posted bed. The window spanned over most of the far wall with heavy dark drapes to block out the sun in the morning. Currently, they were thrown wide open to let in the sun, though it was late now and the light was fading. His mother decided not to dress the room up too much since they rarely had visitors that stayed the night, let alone a whole year.

"I think living here might spoil me." Daniel dumped his bags on the floor at the foot of the bed, at which Vlad wrinkled his nose. "So what are you working on for homework?" He clapped his hands together, grinning as he turned back toward Vlad.

"Nothing that I need your help with," Vlad answered stiffly before he strolled down the hall to his own bedroom to put away his books before dinner. Already, he could only imagine this year being the worst in his life.


	2. October 31

Halloween was probably one of the worst holidays to ever exist. Vlad grumbled to himself as he stomped up to the front door of his home. The whole day was nothing but the rest of the student body acting like juveniles. Weren't they past that silly phase of dressing up and going around to every house in the neighborhood to collect candy? From the way the rest of the school acted, they were all five again. Everyone, even the teachers - even the principal! - came to school dressed in a costume. Vlad felt even more like an outcast being the only one that didn't bother to wear something ridiculous for the stupid holiday.

Vlad pushed the front door open, gritting his teeth in anger. All because he didn't wish to participate in Halloween, he became an even bigger target to the jocks. Even the other losers at the school decided to take part in the teasing he suffered through the whole day. He slammed the door shut as he headed for the stairs.

"Vlad?" Daniel's voice called from the front room, and in a moment, the raven haired man appeared in the front hall. "Is everything okay?"

Vlad opened his mouth to yell at him, scream at him that it wasn't any of his business. But his voice died on his lips when he saw the man dressed in tight leather pants and a flimsy sleeveless shirt. Daniel's face was cut up, blood streaked down it with what looked like bits of glass digging into the injuries.

"What happened to you?" Vlad gasped, and not simply because the clothing was far from anything that he could recall the man wearing since his arrival over a week ago. "Did someone throw you through a window?" Despite Vlad's previous misgivings about the man, Daniel never showed any signs of being some sort of ruffian that got into fights.

"Huh?" Daniel blinked in confusion then laughed. "Oh, this?" He waved a hand at his face. "It's just makeup. Gotta dress up for Halloween."

"Come on, Danny! Just let me bleach your hair," a woman said, following Daniel into the front hall. "We'll definitely win the contest." She dressed in a black tank top that left her belly exposed between the hem of the shirt and the red mini skirt. Her mesh stockings matched the same neon green color of her hair. She also wore makeup to make it look like she got into some kind of accident that tore up her face. They were clearly meant to look like a couple, and Vlad wrinkled his nose at that fact.

"I already told you no, Sam," Daniel said firmly, shooting a narrowed blue eyed glare at the woman. "Give me a moment." Daniel placed his hands on Vlad's shoulders and ushered the younger man up the stairs until they reach his bedroom. It was surprisingly not as messy as Vlad was expecting. Somehow, the man managed to keep his clothes from being thrown all over the place, as Vlad kept imagining. Daniel sat him down on the bed, frowning as he leaned in close to examine Vlad's face. "Who gave you that shiner?"

"No one," Vlad muttered, turning his gaze away from that piercing stare Daniel had on him. It wasn't a big deal. Not really. It wasn't his first black eye after all. Usually he could get away with his parents not noticing since they were often too busy with work.

Daniel stood up straight as he folded his arms, an angry expression twisting his usually jovial face. "If you try to say you walked into a door, I'm calling your school and having words with your principal."

Vlad snapped his head around, narrowing his dark blue eyes at the older man. "My mother didn't hire you to stick your nose into my business. So butt out!" He stood to storm out of the room when Daniel caught him, hands back on Vlad's shoulders.

"My job is to take care of you," Daniel said slowly in a controlled voice as a storm raged in his eyes. "If someone is hurting you, that _is_ my business. Your mother said that you're to listen to everything I tell you to do. And I'm telling you right now, you're not allowed to lie to me. I want you to answer me honestly no matter what I ask you. Now tell me. Who gave you the black eye?"

Vlad's jaw hurt from clenching it so hard. He didn't have to tell this man anything. At the end of the school year, the man would be gone, out of his life. Daniel didn't need to know anything about his life. But Vlad always listened to his parents, always followed their rules. He was told to obey Daniel, and even if he really didn't want to, that meant having do as the man said and answer with the truth to any question put to him. His mouth pressed into an angry line for a moment as he met Daniel's gaze with a cold glare.

"Jared Castle," Vlad stated with hints of fury in his voice. "And you'll only make things worse if you talk to the school, so just drop it. It's not a big deal."

Something flashed in the man's eyes that Vlad couldn't quite fathom. Daniel headed for the door of the bedroom and left. Almost, Vlad wanted to sigh out in relief, but he feared what the man would do with that news. Was he going to go down to the high school and yell at the principal because Vlad got a little beat up? Vlad probably could have avoided the harassment if he simply wore a costume to school, but he hated the holiday. Halloween was so childish. It was pointless, a complete waste. Why wear a physical mask when most people wore metaphorical masks all the time?

Vlad left the bedroom, wandering down the hall to the top of the stairs. He reached it right as the front door closed, and he frowned at the thought of what his "babysitter" was going to do. Anything the man might say to the principal wouldn't help anything. In fact, it would only make it worse for him. He would get teased about needing his "babysitter" to protect him. Next time, the bullies would probably think to be a bit more careful and leave bruises on less visible parts of him. Sighing, he turned to head to his own bedroom.

"Oh, I was just coming up to get you," Daniel said, his voice making Vlad spin back around quickly. Dark blue eyes blinked at the raven haired man at the foot of the staircase as Vlad tried to figure out what was going on. Didn't Daniel head off to the high school? A pack of frozen peas was in one hand while the cordless phone was in the other, confusing Vlad all the more. "I was going to order some pizza." Daniel reached the top of the stairs, and his usual smile was back in place. "What kind do you like? Oh, and put this on your eye."

Vlad numbly accepted the frozen peas, staring at the man like he was some sort of space alien. "Ham and pineapple," he answered, mumbling his words as he kneaded the bag in his hands, squishing around the frozen peas.

"Hawaiian?" Daniel pulled a face of disgust. "I'll get two large pizzas then. I always like sausage with black olives and green peppers." He started dialing the number for the nearest pizza joint as he trotted back down the steps.

Placing the bag against his black eye, Vlad followed after the man, barely listening to the conversation Daniel had with the pizzeria.

"They should have it delivered here within the hour," Daniel answered as he ended the phone call. "And we got a free two liter soda out of it."

"Why are you still here?" Vlad asked, making Daniel stop and turn to face him. Confusion splashed over the man's face, and Vlad felt frustrated having to explain himself. "You weren't going to go yell at the school? What about your girlfriend? You obviously had plans with her. Why didn't you leave with her?"

"You obviously didn't want me going down to your school to talk to them about the bullying." Daniel shook his head. "And I'll respect that." There was that strange look in his bright blue eyes again before it vanished as Daniel laughed. "Sam?" He bit his lip like he was trying to stifle the laughter. "She's not my girlfriend. Well," he tilted his head with a dopey grin, "not anymore. But we've remained friends. There's a bar near our college that holds a costume contest every year for Halloween, and we've been going to it the last two or three years."

"That didn't answer why you didn't go with her." Vlad frowned at the man.

"This," Daniel waved a hard in the general area of Vlad's face, "seemed more important. Now," he clapped his hands, awkwardly with the phone he still held, "do you have any homework that I can actually help you with since you seem to get everything done just fine on your own, Mr. Genius?"

Vlad's frown increased at that question. "Teachers decided not to give any homework tonight." Which was a great disappointment for him. He already finished everything he needed to get done, and without any new homework, he had nothing to do all night.

"Hm, I guess they wouldn't," Daniel murmured, holding his chin in one hand with a thoughtful look. "They probably figured everyone would be busy with Halloween plans so decided not to load you all up with homework." He snapped his fingers, his eyes alight with an idea. "I'm sure there's a horror movie marathon on tonight. We can watch that and eat our pizza. It'll be great." Daniel's grin practically reached from ear to ear.

"Pass," Vlad muttered as he turned to head up the stairs again.

"Oh, come on!" Daniel caught him by the shoulders and spun Vlad toward the front room where they had a large, wide screen television. "Give that brain of yours one night of mindless relaxation. You'll burn yourself out if you do nothing but study all day, every day."

"Maybe you should actually attempt to study one day," Vlad muttered unhappily as Daniel sat him down on the couch.

"Maybe you should tutor me." Laughing, Daniel flipped through the television stations until he found the channel that was showing the horror movie marathon.

Vlad's gaze followed the man as he walked around behind the couch and pulled the drapes closed, darkening the room. "How did you even get into tutoring?" He still couldn't figure out that little mystery. Over the time that Daniel was here, Vlad hadn't seen the man crack open a textbook of his own, despite that he clearly went to classes during the day. He wouldn't call the man stupid, not exactly, but Daniel didn't exactly strike him as being smart enough to tutor others.

Daniel shrugged as he dropped beside Vlad on the couch. "My friend got me into it, said it would be decent pay for a few hours of time out of my day. It seemed better than working at some lousy fast food joint and stinking greasy fried food all the time." He raked a hand through his raven hair, making the wild locks look even more untamed than usual. "I know I'm no genius, not like you." He poked Vlad in the forehead with a teasing grin. "But I do all right. Usually it's helping out kids younger than you."

"I'm no kid," Vlad argued, offended by the term. He was practically an adult already!

Daniel continued to grin, like the protest amused him. His attention turned to the television, not responding to the fuming man beside him, which only irritated Vlad even more. Daniel acted more like the child than he did! Folding his arms, Vlad slumped down on the couch and barely watched the movie playing on the television.


	3. November 17

"Okay," Daniel said as he wrote. "Then you just divide everything by four, and you get," he frowned, brow furrowing as he stared at the answer he got after working out the math problem. "Uh, I don't suppose the answer is supposed to be a negative number with a repeating decimal, right?" He cringed as he turned to glance at the young man sitting beside him at the desk.

"The answer is eight over fifteen," Vlad answered flatly with a dull stare at his horribly bad at math baby sitter. "How are you even allowed to tutor people?"

"Math, okay, not my strong point." Daniel shrugged as he set his pencil down with a sigh, missing the look on Vlad's face that clearly said he thought that was a gross understatement of the man's poor abilities to do a simple math equation correctly. "I didn't take super advanced math like this when I was in high school. What, is your school full of geniuses or something?" The teasing grin was back on his face, and that kept Vlad wondering. The man seemed to always be smiling except on rare occasions when another emotion took over, like when Daniel was enraged after seeing the black eye Vlad received on Halloween. But the smile was always quick to return to his face.

"It's not super advanced at all," Vlad argued. "You're just really bad at it."

"I can't argue with that." Daniel laughed and reached over to ruffle the other man's hair, but Vlad slapped the hand away before he could muss up the neat locks of hair pulled back into a low ponytail. A small frown appeared for the briefest of moments before Daniel leaned on one arm on the desk. "Not that you even need my help." He chuckled as some amusing thought passed through his head. "Good thing your intelligence doesn't make your brain swell up, or you'd probably be walking around with this giant balloon of a head that keeps making you wobble about trying to keep it up straight."

"If intelligence affected the size of the brain, yours would be so small it would rattle every time you moved your head." Vlad wrote out the next math problem in his notebook, copying it out of the textbook. He still had sixteen problems to complete before his homework was done for the night. He could have finished it much sooner if Daniel didn't insist on trying to help in some way for once.

"Hey!" Daniel protested, frowning at Vlad's comment. "I may not be a super genius in math, but I'm not that dumb either." The ringing of the doorbell interrupted their conversation, and Vlad frowned in wonder of whom would be coming to his home. Daniel sighed as he climbed to his feet. "That'll be for me."

Vlad watched the man exit his bedroom, frowning as the door closed behind him. This wouldn't be the first time that Daniel had friends visit him at the mansion. Sam was only the first of Daniel's friends to make an appearance. Shortly after Halloween, another of Daniel's friends visited, a black man by the name of Tucker with thick half moon framed glasses and bearing more tech than Vlad could imagine carrying on one person at once. He was apparently the friend that convinced Daniel into the tutoring job in the first place. There was also another woman that kept pinching his cheeks and calling him cute, over which Vlad still felt irritated. He was not cute!

Shaking his head, and trying to forget all about that Valerie woman, Vlad returned his attention to his homework. He did perfectly well in math and found the formulas easy to remember and solve, but math still felt like an overly tedious subject to study. Most people forgot all about the math taught in school after they graduated.

When he finished with his homework, Vlad put away his textbook and notebook then stretched his arms up over his head. He could hear movement in the room next door, though he ignored it while he focused on his homework. Now that it was out of the way, the muffled voices pulled at his attention. He frowned at the wall separating his room from Daniel's room. Which of Daniel's friends came to visit this time?

It wasn't any of his business. Daniel was a grown man and allowed to hang out with whatever friends he chose. But this wasn't Daniel's home to use as some sort of headquarters for his weird friends. Vlad was fairly certain his parents wouldn't approve of a bunch of young adults traipsing in and out of their home. Daniel was lucky that none of his friends broke anything expensive during their visits.

At the loud laughter coming through the wall, Vlad decided it couldn't go on ignored. He finished his homework, but Daniel certainly didn't know that. The man could at least respect him enough to keep his friends quiet while he tried to study! Leaving his bedroom, Vlad stormed down to the door of the bedroom next to his own. He didn't bother to knock, merely barging unannounced into the bedroom.

His mood didn't lift in the slightest when his dark blue eyes swept around the room and didn't spy the man. Instead, Vlad's gaze landed upon the woman lounging on the bed. An eyebrow lifted at the sight of the woman with far too pale skin. Her black top had a single strap over her left shoulder, and her right arm wore a long black glove. Her blue hair was a bizarre sight to him, though he guessed it shouldn't have surprised him after Halloween when Sam had her hair dyed a neon green. She chuckled, purple painted lips stretched into a wide grin as she stared into the open doorway of the bathroom.

"I can't believe you did that!" Daniel shouted from the bathroom, which only gained another bout of loud laughter from the woman sitting upon the bed.

In a moment, Daniel stepped out of the bathroom, and Vlad felt a jolt of shock at his appearance, much like when he returned home on Halloween. Daniel stood there, once again in tight leather pants riding low and hugging his hips like a second skin. The tight shirt he wore had long mesh sleeves, and if he looked closely, Vlad swore the man had his nails painted black. His almost to the knee high boots matched the ones his friend wore and resembled skulls at the front over the two inch lift. Not that man needed the extra height. But what really had Vlad gaping was the streak of white down the middle of his raven hair.

"I told Sam no to dying my hair blond for Halloween," Daniel shouted in one of his rare unhappy moments. "And you go and give me white hair? _White_! And you only did a streak! I look like a skunk!"

"I love you, dipstick," the woman said, not quite managing to mask her amusement. "But you have zero sense in fashion or what's cool. Trust me. You'll be the biggest hit of the night like this."

"Yeah, sure." Daniel rolled his blue eyes. "I'll be remembered as the skunk boy." With his hands on his hips, he glared at the woman.

"Naw, you look awesome. Don't you agree, kid?" The woman slid her green eyes toward him.

"I'm not a kid!" Vlad snapped, and Daniel almost visibly jerked when he noticed the other man's presence.

"Better watch it, Ember." The easy grin plastered itself back onto his face as Daniel tilted his head toward the woman. "He gets really testy when you call him kid." Running a hand through his hair, he pouted. "This stuff better wash out quickly. I don't want to be walking around campus like this. Doesn't it make me look like a skunk, Vlad?" He tugged at the white strands.

"No, it looks great," Vlad muttered sarcastically. Then a smirk slipped onto his face, and he couldn't pass up the chance to tease the man. "Little badger."

"Little?" Daniel spluttered. " _Little badger_?"

The woman, Ember, burst out laughing, arms wrapping around her exposed midriff. "Oh! Oh, I like him!"

Daniel shot a glare at her. "Of course you would."

"Well," Ember got to her feet, "this has been a charming meeting, but," she glanced at Daniel, "we should really head out if we want to make it on time."

Daniel checked the time on his watch and winced. "Yeah, I think we're going to be late." He lifted his eyes and glared at the woman. "Since you just _had_ to dye my hair." He grabbed his wallet from the night stand and crammed it, somehow, into his tight pants. Before they left the bedroom, Daniel stopped in front of Vlad. "I got out a lasagna for dinner. All you have to do is set the oven and pop it in. I probably won't be back before you go to bed, so we might not see each other until tomorrow after school. Don't get into any trouble. Okay?"

Vlad lowered the lids of his eyes in a flat stare. "Have I yet to get into trouble?"

"He'll be fine." Ember tugged on Daniel's arm. "Come along now, little badger." She dragged him out of the bedroom.

"I swear if you start spreading that around, Ember!" Daniel threatened.

"Oh, I'm so scared." Ember laughed, clearly not finding the threat the least bit terrifying.

Vlad trailed after the pair, watching their interactions as they headed down the stairs to the front door. At Halloween, Daniel said Sam wasn't his current girlfriend. He seemed to have a rather strange relationship with Valerie, in which they dissolved into bickering with each other through most of the time she was at the mansion. His mouth stretched thin in thought, wondering if this strange woman was Daniel's girlfriend. They seemed to get along fairly well, despite a lot of teasing.

Daniel waved goodbye over his shoulder as Ember pushed him out the front door into the late night. When the door closed behind them, Vlad stood in the front hall, listening to the suffocating silence that followed. It was almost eerie without the constant chatter of the other man. He should be used to the quiet. That was how things were while his parents were home. But somehow, before even a month passed, Daniel made the silence seem like a foreign concept for him, like it was unusual for the house to be this empty of the man's voice.

The growling of his stomach distracted him from such thoughts. Vlad wandered into the kitchen. At the sight of the lasagna sitting out on the counter thawing, he wrinkled his nose in disgust. His mother was a decent cook, and he acquired some of her skill over the years, having to cook for himself on more than a few occasions. Vlad got out a steak, some vegetables, even a few potatoes to mash up to along with the meal.

When his food was cooked, Vlad took his time selecting a wine to go with it, pouring the dark red liquid into one of their wine glasses. Then he settled into his chair at the dining table to eat his dinner. Glancing around the room, his eyes drifting up and down the long table, he frowned. Daniel liked to insist that they have their dinners in the front room, relaxing in front of the television in a rather unrefined manner. Vlad snorted at that as he lifted his wine glass, bringing it to his nose. He sloshed the liquid around inside the glass as he breathed in its bouquet. Daniel probably wouldn't understand the complexities of a good wine, instead simply gulping it down without even having the chance to taste the subtlety of everything that went into crafting it. Daniel likely preferred the swill of beer or hard liquor, though Vlad had yet to actually see the man drink anything.

Vlad took a small sip of the wine, swishing it around in his mouth, as he set the glass back on the table. Yes, it was a good choice to go with the steak. His father took him to his first wine tasting when he was fourteen, and since then, his father let him try wine at dinner from time to time. Never very much, one glass every month or so. Vlad liked the taste of it, but he hadn't poured himself a glass of wine since Daniel's arrival, deciding not to get into that discussion with the man. Some people might object to underage drinking, but it wasn't like Vlad was some sort of alcoholic. It was an occasional enjoyment for him.

After he finished his dinner, Vlad carried his dishes back into the kitchen and set about washing them. Plate, silverware, cooking utensils, and wine glass went on the dish rack to dry. Pans returned to their hooks after a furious scrubbing with dish detergent. Drying his hands off on a towel, Vlad nodded at the neat, clean state of the kitchen. But a frown remained on his face. His homework was finished, and now he had absolutely nothing to do and only the silence to fill his time.

This was the first night Daniel would be out for such a long length of time. Vlad chewed on his lower lip as a thought wiggled into his mind. His feet responded before he even registered the decision in his head. When he reached the door to the other man's room, Vlad hesitated, wiping sweaty palms on his pants. Why should he feel nervous? Daniel wouldn't come charging in to yell at him for being in his bedroom. The man would never even know! Taking a deep breath, Vlad pushed open the door and glanced around the still surprisingly tidy bedroom.

Daniel kept the two bags that he brought with him in the wardrobe. Dragging them out, Vlad rifled through the man's belongings. There wasn't much to find out there about the man except some questionable taste in clothing. After meeting his latest friend, Vlad wondered all the more about the man. Daniel's friends all seemed so vastly different that Vlad didn't know how any of them got along with each other.

Returning the clothes to their bags, Vlad frowned when he noticed something. His gaze drifted between the two bags. They looked packed to bursting when Daniel arrived, and though some clothes were in the laundry, there was a mysterious gap in one of the bags. Something was missing from it. Or at least, that was Vlad's conclusion. He checked the bathroom, but the toiletries Daniel brought with him hardly made up the missing mass. Wandering around the room, he searched for anything that wasn't normally within the guest room.

Then he came to stare at the bed, the final place to look. Climbing down onto his knees on the floor, he lifted up the edge of the sheets and glanced under the bed. There it was, like a shiny treasure waiting to be discovered. Vlad pulled out the wooden box and turned it over in his hands. It was nicely crafted with sleek, polished wood. A rectangle decorated with leaves was carved on the lid of it. Vlad tried to pry it open, but the box was locked. Lifting it up to his eyes, he squinted at the lock. It was much too small an opening for him to try to stick anything in there and pick the lock. He gave the box a shake and heard the thump of something sliding and a rattle. Folding his arms, he frowned down at the box now sitting before him. What secrets did Daniel hide within the box?


	4. November 24

Vlad pressed the eraser end of his pencil against his chin, right under his lower lip, as he read over the passage in his book again. He thought on it for a while before jotting down some notes about it. His homework was finished for everything that was due when he returned to school on Monday. Thankfully, his English teacher gave him some extra credit work to do over the break. He was only halfway through the book, keeping notes on all the important parts and anything that he thought might be relevant when it came time for him to write his essay on it. At the rate he was going though, he would have the extra homework finished before it was even the weekend.

With a sigh, he leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms over his head. Sometimes, he almost thought he would be a little better off if he allowed himself to be more like Daniel. Once his homework was finished, Vlad often found himself sitting around bored. His family had a large library, but he already read through the vast majority of what they owned. Daniel, meanwhile, never seemed to have a moment of boredom in his life. Even when he was simply sitting there, the man had a smile on his face like some amusing thought was passing through his head.

Vlad rolled his eyes, realizing what a stupid thought that was. If he was anything like Daniel, his brain would be a lot duller. He sat forward again at his desk when an irritating beeping filled the mansion. A frown thinned his mouth as he lifted annoyed eyes from his book. What was that man up to now? Since that morning, Vlad spent the majority of his day in his bedroom working on the extra credit homework. When Vlad went down that morning for breakfast, Daniel shoved a bowl of cereal into his hands and shooed him out of the kitchen. Vlad frowned as he recalled that incident. Why did the man want him to stay out of the kitchen? From the beeping, he could only guess that Daniel was attempting to burn down the house.

Getting up from his desk, Vlad left his bedroom and stormed down the stairs on his way to the kitchen. When he reached the kitchen, he threw open the door and glowered at the man standing at the stove. Daniel coughed as he waved his hands before him with the oven mitts that Vlad's mother often used when she needed to take something out of the oven. They were the pink ones with the little white polka dots on them. Smoke continued to rise from the charred lump within the baking pan sitting on top of the stove.

Vlad felt a headache coming on as he snatched a towel from the counter. Standing beneath the smoke detector, he waved the towel, dispersing the smoke enough to silence the irritating device. Then he snapped furious blue eyes at the man.

"What madness are you trying to thrust upon me today?" Vlad demanded tightly, only dropping his gaze for a brief moment to the blackened mass between them.

"Well," Daniel said with a nervous laugh as he rubbed at the back of his neck while still wearing the oven mitt. His hair still had that ridiculous streak of white in it that the man made frequent grumbling comments about his annoyance with it. For nearly a week since it happened, Daniel mentioned at least once a day that he never should have let Ember touch his hair. So far, none of his showers managed to even dull the bright white that now ran through the center of his hair. "Since it's Thanksgiving, I thought I should try making a nice Thanksgiving day meal for us."

Vlad lowered his gaze and pointed to the thing in the baking pan. "Please tell me that isn't supposed to be a turkey."

"I've, uh, never cooked something like this before," Daniel admitted with some embarrassment. "The, uh, potatoes didn't turn out all that well either."

Vlad eyed the man suspiciously as he inched toward the island separating them. Dropping the towel onto the counter, he peered over the large silver mixing bowl. "Why are they green?" he shouted after seeing the mash of gooey green that he could only guess used to be potatoes at some point.

"Uh, I'm still not quite sure on that one, to be honest." Daniel refused to look at Vlad, keeping his bright blue eyes turned away. "Well," he yanked off the pink oven mitts, tossing them back into the drawer where he found them, "since we're obviously not going to eat this," he waved a hand at the scorched remains of the turkey and the discolored mush, "how about we go out?" He grinned as he finally turned to face Vlad. "We haven't eaten out once since I've been here. And I got paid, so we can go wherever you like. What's the popular place for people your age?"

Vlad resisted making a face at that suggestion and settled on glowering at the man. The last thing he wanted was to eat at the "popular" place for the rest of the teens that went to his school. He received enough harassment at school without subjecting himself to it outside of school. But Daniel was being his usual dull minded self by making that suggestion.

"We have plenty of food here. Why would I want to go anywhere with you?" Vlad sneered at the man.

Daniel frowned briefly before he walked over to the sink to wash his hands. "Well, _I'm_ going out to eat, and I think it would be nice if _you_ joined me." He grabbed the towel that Vlad used to silence the smoke detector to dry off his hands. "Of course, you don't _have_ to," he rolled his eyes off to the side as he tilted his head slightly, "but I would certainly like the company."

"You've got friends." Vlad hoped the bitterness didn't seep out too much into his voice, but if he was honest with himself, he _was_ jealous of the man. There wasn't much about Daniel to be jealous of, but the man had a way of making friends, apparently. Vlad didn't have any friends at his school, so watching Daniel traipse about his home with a new friend almost every week left Vlad feeling bitterly alone.

Daniel shrugged. "They went to spend it with family."

Vlad stared at him, an eyebrow slowly lifting. "And you didn't want to go spending Thanksgiving with your family?" He folded his arms as he frowned at the man. "Because you don't have to stay here constantly. I'm perfectly capable of surviving without your hovering about."

His smile faltered, straining to remain plastered upon his face, but his bright blue eyes couldn't hide that sudden dimming, that shift of unbridled mirth to something darker. Then Daniel shook his head, his happiness back in place like there was no change to his mood at all.

"Get your coat and let's go." Daniel left the kitchen, heading down the hall toward the front door.

Vlad considered ignoring the man and simply staying home to eat by himself. But that odd flicker in the man's usual jovial disposition nagged at him, almost as much as that mysterious box that Daniel kept locked up under his bed. Vlad tried several times after finding it to get it open while the man was out, but it remained locked. He still didn't have any means of picking the lock either, trying several different things that he could find around his home with little luck.

Deciding he might be able to uncover some hints to those secrets, Vlad followed the man to the front hall. He grabbed his Green Bay Packers jacket from the closet. His father got him the jacket last year when they went to one of their football games. Daniel was already outside, waiting for him at the bottom of the front steps. After locking the door, Vlad turned around to join the man when he paused.

"We're riding on that?" Vlad questioned skeptically, eying the motorcycle next to Daniel with some wariness.

"Yup." Daniel picked up one of the helmets and tossed it Vlad's way. Not being the best when it came to sports, Vlad fumbled to catch it, managing somehow to grab the helmet and hug it close to his chest. "Built it with Ember's boyfriend. He's pretty good at this kind of thing. Runs like a charm too." He put on his own helmet, a black one was a white ghost design on the back of it, as he climbed onto the motorcycle.

Vlad was more hesitant about getting onto that possible death trap as his nails dug into the sides of the neon green helmet with a black stripe from front to back. Daniel's words, at least, struck out the idea that the woman with crazy blue hair was his girlfriend. And Daniel was back to wearing his usual slightly loose jeans and average shirt, today's being a white shirt with a red circle crossing out a ghost on the front. He wore a leather biker's jacket, and his nails, Vlad noticed, were still painted black from his late night outing with Ember.

Frowning, Vlad put on the snug helmet as he approached the motorcycle with some reservations. As Daniel said that night, Vlad didn't see him before going to bed or the next morning when he woke him. He didn't see Daniel until after he got home from school when he entered the kitchen to find the man hunched over the kitchen table, nursing a mug of coffee. The man wouldn't give any answers about his night, only grunting whenever Vlad asked him questions until eventually giving up to go work on his homework.

"Hang on tight," Daniel instructed once Vlad awkwardly climbed onto the motorcycle behind him.

"Hang on to what exactly?" Vlad released an undignified yelp when instead of receiving an answer, Daniel started the motorcycle. Reacting instinctively, he grabbed on tight to the man in front of him, arms squeezing around the thin waist, as they jerked forward with a start.

Riding that death trap was far more terrifying than Vlad was imagining upon first seeing it. His heart raced a mile a minute as they sped along the streets. He could barely hear Daniel's shouts for directions over the wind whipping past them and the rush of noise of the surrounding traffic. Somehow, he managed to instruct the man to a decent restaurant at which they could dine. It was the place his parents went on their first date and was a little pricey, but it was the first place to pop into Vlad's mind since he didn't want to risk going to some lame fast food joint where he might run into the students from his school.

"This is it?" Daniel questioned, glancing up at the delicate scroll of the restaurant's name La Rive Gauche on the sign with some misgivings.

"You said you got paid," Vlad said, happily getting off the monstrosity of transportation as he yanked the blasted helmet from his head. He grumbled internally and tried to quickly smooth out his hair, which must look like a mess after wearing the helmet. When he caught the doubtful expression, Vlad couldn't help smirking at the man.

"Oh sure," Daniel said as he removed his helmet, his hair hardly looking that much different with its usually wild locks. "I might be able to afford, you know, breadsticks or something. A cup of ice." He looked down at his clothing then over to Vlad dressed in his simple yellow shirt with two green stripes across the chest and jeans. "I don't think we exactly fit the dress code at this place either."

"Oh, little badger," Vlad practically cooed with a smirk spreading widely across his face, "when you're a Masters," he pulled out a credit card from his wallet, "a dress code doesn't matter."

"I've told you to stop calling me that," Daniel muttered as he followed Vlad up to the doors of the restaurant.

Vlad considered complying with the man's request, but it was rather amusing to watch him get all flustered and spluttering whenever Vlad called him by the nickname. Given the streak that remained so vividly through his raven locks, the nickname remained quite fitting.

When they entered the restaurant, the host stopped them. "I'm afraid we don't serve," his brown eyes roamed up and down the two of them, "people that don't adhere to our dress code."

"I'm sure you can make an exception," Vlad said, showing off the credit card to the man so that the name on it was clearly displayed.

"Follow the dress code, or show yourself to the door." The man directed a hand toward the exit of the restaurant.

Vlad readied to argue with the man, demand if he knew exactly to whom he was speaking, but Daniel tugged on his arm. He wrenched his arm out of the man's hold once they were outside the restaurant.

"That place seems really stuffy," Daniel said as his eyes glanced around the area, "and there are plenty of other places to eat around here. That dude wasn't going to fall for your little card trick." A smile graced his face when his gaze locked on a building across the street. "Oh, this place will be great."

Daniel pulled him across the street, ignoring Vlad's grumbling protest. The "great" place turned out to be a bar of sorts that made Vlad think of those establishments where hooligans hung out getting drunk and starting fights over nothing everything five seconds. When he was dragged inside, he expected to hear the sounds of shouting and shattering glass and smashed up furniture and flesh slapping flesh. Instead, the bar was relatively quiet, in terms of the patrons' activity. Music pumped through the place but wasn't so boomingly loud that he feared his eardrums would rupture from the noise. He didn't recognize any of the music that played as Daniel led the way up to the bar where to took a seat on one of the stools. Vlad wrinkled his nose, fearful of the germs that probably littered the place.

"Haven't seen you in a while," said the blond man behind the bar. He was muscular, like he could be a good bouncer at a club. A grin stretched over his face as he leaned over the bar, his dark blue eyes locked on Daniel.

"Got paid," Daniel explained proudly. "So taking the kid out for a treat."

"I'm not a kid," Vlad argued, glowering at the man. Somewhere in his mind, he thought maybe Daniel only continued to call him that because he wouldn't drop the whole "little badger" comments. He climbed onto the stool next to Daniel, despite his worries of contracting some vicious disease from it.

The man snorted with only a quick glance toward Vlad. "He ain't drinking, is he?"

"Of course not," Daniel scoffed. "He isn't even eighteen yet. No drinks tonight."

"Sure you should be wasting your money here?" The bartender shot a concerned look Daniel's way as he handed over a menu to Vlad.

Daniel rolled his eyes. "I think I can survive buying one meal out every now and then."

"Let me guess." Amusement danced in the blond man's eyes. "You killed the turkey."

Daniel flushed as he shrugged. "Who knew it would be so hard to bake a turkey?"

"I told you it was a bad idea." The man turned his attention onto Vlad. "We have a turkey sandwich if you want something Thanksgiving-ish. There's even a cranberry salad thing that goes with it."

"Oh man!" Daniel laughed. "They still have that thing? Don't get it." He grabbed Vlad's arm and held it tightly. "Seriously, worst thing to ever come into existence. It's probably the most disgusting thing you could ever put into your mouth."

"Oh, I can think of something worse." The bartender made a face like he was gagging, and a shuddered ran through his body.

"I told you not to do it. But did you listen?" Daniel smirked, a devilish look with a sinister gleam in his eyes that Vlad never saw until now. "And please," he raised a hand, stopping the man before he could get out a word, "I don't need any more visuals added in my head. I still can't believe you did that." He chuckled as he turned to Vlad. "Decided what you want?"

Vlad felt green at the thought of eating anything off the menu. "I'll just have a burger," he said, deciding it was the least offensive choice.

"Make that two," Daniel said, holding up two fingers. "And put extra pickles on mine."

"Like you had to ask." The bartender rolled his eyes at Daniel's ridiculous grin before he walked off to get their burgers started. Vlad watched the man go, wondering how Daniel fell into such a vast collective of people. It seemed like Daniel could make friends with just about anyone.

"So seventeen," Daniel said as he leaned on the bar, turning to stare at Vlad. "Eighteen should be coming up soon, yeah? When's your birthday?"

Vlad shrugged. "December twenty-second." He frowned down at the bar, knowing that it wouldn't matter. Even his parents didn't bother to celebrate his birthday on the actual day. It was too close to Christmas, so his parents decided to simply combine the two and wait to give him any birthday presents on Christmas day. After a moment, he glanced toward Daniel. "When's your birthday?" He didn't even know why he cared about it, but it seemed like the thing to ask after the man inquired about his own birthday.

Daniel shrugged as he tapped his fingers on the top of the bar, his leg bouncing to the beat of the music playing through the bar. "It's in the summer. I'll be gone by then." He grinned at Vlad. "You're parents will be back for graduation, after all."


	5. December 10

"You didn't have to buy me lunch," Vlad said as his mouth tugged downward. He glanced sidelong at the man walking down the street beside him after they left fast food joint with horribly greasy food. It was a wonder the other man didn't grow fat if he lived off that type of food. The name of the place hardly encouraged him to sample the burgers when the sign outside read Nasty Burger.

"Well, it's the least I could do after dragging you out of that mansion of yours." Daniel chuckled as he toted around a white plastic bag from shopping before they headed to lunch. Vlad wasn't really sure about the item the man bought: a strange bear in a white coat with hair and a mustache that made it look like it resembled Albert Einstein. Daniel got really excited when he found the toy, grabbing the only one the shelf with a cry of "Bearbert lives!"

"You could have left me at home," Vlad grumbled, hunching his shoulders and burying his face a little deeper into the thick striped scarf wrapped around his neck. The weather was turning colder, and the sky overhead was gray with clouds that threatened to start snowing any day now. He _wanted_ to stay home where it was nice and warm, but Daniel was persistent and refused to listen to him. The man practically dragged him out of the house by the arm.

"On a great day like this?" Daniel laughed as he lifted his arms up, the plastic bag sliding down to the crook of his elbow with the action as he folded his arms behind his head. "You can't stay cooped up in that place all the time. Don't you ever get bored there? You need to get out and live life a little. You know, before you're too old to enjoy anything."

"I enjoy my life just well enough the way it is." Vlad frowned behind his scarf. Daniel, apparently, decided to make it his mission to get Vlad out of the house ever since their little dinner out at that bar. His stomach still felt a little queasy thinking about that place, but the burger hadn't been all that bad, surprisingly. The blond man that worked the bar, named Dash as he learned from listening to their conversation, was an old friend of Daniel's from high school. Or at least, that was what it sounded like to him. They sounded like they were close, at least, with all their jokes that they never bothered to fully explain to him, and Vlad spent a good portion of the night struggling to understand about what they were even talking.

"Ah, my prey shows his face."

Vlad snapped out of his thoughts hearing that comment as Daniel sighed next to him. Before them, a man with a Mohawk that was a sickly vibrant neon green stood with the barrel of a rifle like weapon pointed right between Daniel's eyes. The people walking around them all paused to stare at the scene, though none stepped forward to help, probably too afraid of the mad man wielding a gun. Vlad gulped as he glanced at Daniel, wondering what relationship he could possibly have with _this_ man.

"Come on, Skullie," Daniel said tiredly. "I've told you not to come up to me like that in public. You're scaring the crap out of people." Wary blue eyes darted around, taking note of some people that looked like they were discreetly trying to call the cops. "And why are you wearing that anyway?" He lifted a curious eyebrow at the other man.

"Did you pick that up from Em?" Skullie groaned as he drew back his weapon and rested it against his broad muscular shoulder. His green eyes showed annoyance, but when he lifted them upward, he smirked. "Still sporting the streak?" He laughed loudly. "Em told me about it, but I didn't think she was for real."

Daniel growled. "What the hell did your girlfriend even use on my hair?" he demanded, tugging at the white strands hanging down before his eyes. "I must have washed it about a thousand times now, and I even used some of his," he pointed at Vlad, "fancy ass shampoo and conditioner, and it still won't wash out."

"I knew it!" Vlad shouted, narrowing his dark blue eyes at the man, who merely shrugged in response.

"I thought you would have learned not to let her near your hair by now." Skullie shook his head, chuckling as he stared at the streak of white through the raven hair.

"Can we not focus on my hair?" Daniel question dryly with a sour glare.

"Why not? It looks rather fitting on you, little badger." Vlad smirked when the man snapped his head around to pin the glare on him. It didn't help Daniel's mood when Skullie broke into loud, boisterous laughter, bending over to slap his knee while gasping out "little badger" between his laughs.

"You're not going to let me have even one friend that doesn't know about that nickname, are you?"

"I'm surprised they don't already call you that with that hair."

Daniel groaned, rubbing at his temples like he had a headache. "But seriously, Skulker," he said in an obvious change of topics in hopes to move away from the embarrassing nickname, "why are you dressed up?"

What kind of name was Skulker? Vlad stared at the Mohawk man as his brow drew together. He hoped it wasn't the man's legal name. Because if it was, he might have to feel pretty sorry for the stranger. Skulker, who hadn't simply dyed his hair neon green but also the little patch of hair on his chin, dressed mostly in black with a leather jacket over his shirt. A metal shoulder plate sat on his left shoulder with a utility strap that wrapped across his chest to his right side just about his belt with the strange buckle with a blue S on it. His gloves had strange tech-like attachments around his wrists. The whole look gave him some sort of futuristic robot vibe that made Vlad wonder if the man failed to realize that it was no longer Halloween.

"You didn't get the message?" Skulker blinked in surprise when Daniel shook his head. "We decided to put together a last minute game. I was surprised to see you just walking around. I thought you would already be there. You're usually early to them."

"What?" Daniel's mouth gaped open. "No one told me!"

"Well, sounds like you'll be busy," Vlad said, jumping at the opportunity to depart and return to his toasty warm home. "I'll just take my leave then." He turned to walk away when Daniel caught the back of his coat to stop him.

"No way, _kid_." Daniel smirked at the annoyance that flashed through Vlad's eyes. "You should join us. It'll be fun. You can be on my team." He slung an arm around Vlad's shoulders, ignoring the grumpy expression on his charge's face.

Vlad didn't know what this whole "game" thing was about, and he wasn't sure he wanted to find out. "Why exactly are you carrying around a rifle?" He shot a confused look with a frown at the Mohawk man as they walked down the street. People were still glancing their way, giving them a wide berth as they eyed the weapon warily.

"It's not a rifle," Skulker answered with a miffed sniff, like he was insulted to have his weapon called by such a trivial name. "It's a plasma gun. Okay. It's really just one of those water guns, but the science geeks helped me rig up some slime to fill it with so it's like I'm firing ectoplasm at people. Pretty neat, huh?" He grinned proudly at his weapon.

Vlad stared at the man like he was crazy. "You know, I could still just go home."

"Nonsense!" Daniel kept a tight hold on Vlad the whole time they walked, ensuring that the younger man couldn't escape him.

Vlad dreaded whatever "game" the other two men were discussing the whole time they walked through the streets. Daniel opted not to force Vlad onto his motorcycle again, which was fine with Vlad because he didn't care to experience riding around on that thing again. When they reached the college campus, he felt even more confused about what exactly Daniel and Skulker were planning to play. His bafflement didn't lift as they entered the college's football stadium. There were a few other people already gathered in the center of the field, but from the way they were all dressed, Vlad doubted they were planning a game of football.

"What exactly are we doing here?" Vlad question slowly, more than half expecting to hate the answer, as Skulker departing from them to go join a small grouping that included the blue haired woman named Ember.

"Never heard of LARPing?" Daniel seemed genuinely confused as they joined his friends, who Vlad actually recognized despite their strange attire. The Goth Sam dressed up in a strange skirt that resembled petals. The techno geek Tucker abandoned his usual red beret for something that an Egyptian pharaoh might wear. Valerie had on a black and red suit, and like the other two, she wore a heavy winter coat to protect against the cold.

"I'm sorry." Vlad stared blandly at the question posed to him. "Did you just try to cough up a hairball?"

Daniel rolled his eyes, not amused. "No. LARPing. Live action role playing."

"People actually do that?" Vlad wrinkled his nose, hardly believing that Daniel participated in such activities.

"It's fun," Valerie said, slapping him on the back with a cheery grin. "You get to whack people."

"So what exactly are you all supposed to be?" Vlad thought he could guess, except maybe Valerie, but he figured an explanation would help things make more sense.

"Queen of plants," Sam answered.

"Possessed pharaoh." Tucker shrugged.

"Huntress." Valerie wielded a staff with a smirk on her face.

Okay. Maybe their answers wouldn't help much. "And what are you supposed to be?" Vlad glanced at Daniel, already trying to make a guess of his role in the game, but he couldn't think of anything. Maybe if the man was dressed in his costume for the game, Vlad might have a better clue.

Daniel turned his gaze away, scratching absently at his cheek as an embarrassed flush crossed his face. At least, Vlad assumed it was from embarrassment. It could easily be from the cold as well. "A half ghost," he answered awkwardly then shrugged as he let a dopey smile slide back onto his face. "We didn't get to pick our roles though."

" _The Hobbit_!" A man cried out as he approached their little group. Vlad blinked at the much older man, probably in his late forties, with a balding head, goatee, and a rounded gut. "The dragon has her sights upon me again!"

"This is Lancer," Daniel introduced the man dressed in garb that looked like someone working at a medieval renaissance faire. "He's only a human, but he can be pretty useful in situations. He's also one of our teachers."

"And the dragon," Tucker pointed across the way to where Skulker and Ember were talking with a woman whose blonde hair was tied back in a braided rope and dressed similarly in a renaissance getup, "is Dora. She may look all nice and innocent, but she can become a real terror."

"And she totally likes Lancer," Valerie added teasingly, which put a soft flush of color upon the man's cheeks.

"That would be highly inappropriate," Lancer argued stiffly. "I am a teacher, and she is my student. Such relationships could land us both in hot water."

"So what's the game today?" Sam questioned, pointing to the white slip of paper in the teacher's hand.

Lancer frowned as he read off what the paper said. "Pariah Dark escaped the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep again."

"Are you kidding?" Daniel groaned when he heard the answer.

"Who's Pariah Dark?" Vlad glanced around the gathering in confusion.

"He's the Ghost King and pretty much a godmodding cheater," Daniel grumbled, folding his arms. "He's practically unbeatable and the only way to stop him is to shove him back into the Sarcophagus."

"You beat him last time though." Tucker punched his friend lightly on the shoulder, trying to be supportive though he looked rather distressed about this Pariah Dark character.

Daniel glanced over to where a cardboard structure was set up with a man in a white suit standing guard outside it. "Anyone in prison we can bust out to join our side?" He leaned toward Vlad and whispered, "That guy over there," he pointed the white suited man, "is Warden Walker. He sort of plays ref for the game, and anyone caught breaking the rules gets tossed into his prison." He grinned mischievously. "But sometimes, we like to stage prison breaks and get temporarily removed characters back in the game."

"Plus it annoys the hell out of Walker," Valerie added with a chuckle.

"The only one in there right now is Box Ghost," Sam said, and Vlad wondered what the deal was with all the weird names. "But he has his daughter with him today, so we might as well just leave him there."

"Good point." Daniel nodded then placed a hand to his chin in thought. "Think Skulker will want to join forces? We're enemy teams," he explained for Vlad's benefit, "but for some plots, we'll join up to take out a threat."

"Well, we're lucky this time, the Fright Knight shouldn't be able to come into play," Tucker said and pointed off to the side where a pumpkin sat with a green sword pierced through the top. "That's the Fright Knight's sword the Soul Shredder. One swipe of that blade, and the victim gets trapped in their worst nightmare." He shuddered like it was a real thing and he had firsthand experience with it. "But as long as it's in the pumpkin, we don't have to worry about the Fright Knight joining up with Pariah Dark."

"Yeah, but we still have the problem of figuring out a plan of attack," Daniel said, deep in thought, and Vlad found it a strange expression on him. Daniel clearly took this whole LARPing thing rather seriously. "The guy is nearly impossible to beat."

"How did you do it the other time?" Vlad questioned curiously, finding he was actually somewhat interested to know the answer.

"I got lucky." Daniel sighed as he ran a hand through his dual colored hair. He pointed at a man watching the groups with keen eyes as he leaned on a staff that looked like he had a stop watch set into the stop of it. His long white hair was tied in a low ponytail, and Vlad thought the coloring strange when the man looked barely in his thirties. "That's Clockwork. He's the game master for this whole thing, and basically he decides everything. Like allowing stupid Pariah Dark to break free again." His mouth pursed in a sour expression. "Anyway, he gave me a chance roll, and I lucked out with a suit that would increase my power a hundred fold and put me on par with Pariah's strength. Downside is it drains my energy pretty quickly so I only had twenty minutes to figure out how to stop Pariah. Nearly died in the process."

"Yeah, he managed to lock Pariah up with only ten seconds to spare," Tucker said with a wince as he remembered that whole event.

"I hope you're all prepared to begin," Clockwork said, and Vlad was certain a grin spread across his face as he glanced in their group's direction. "Because we're starting."

"Gee, he gave us a lot of time to think up a strategy," Daniel grumbled. Then he placed a hand on Vlad's shoulder. "Just stick close to me."

The grin on his face didn't help inspire very much confidence inside Vlad, who followed Daniel and his team. He was almost one hundred percent certain that he would hate the man for dragging to this preposterous game.


	6. December 22

"And when I was little, I had these freckles," Daniel explained as they entered the mansion, "and I swear there were these three right here," he poked at his cheek just under his left eye, "that looked exactly like Orion's belt." He laughed, shutting the door behind them. "I know that sounds crazy. I mean, Orion's belt is basically just three stars all in a line, but that's exactly how the freckles were."

Vlad groaned internally after having listened to Daniel rattle on for the last few hours. With an entirely drained feeling, he headed for the stairs as he rubbed at his temples. The man sure knew how to talk on and on about nothing of consequence, and Vlad wondered how anyone could stand to be around Daniel for more than a few minutes at a time. Though he did have plenty of friends, Vlad recalled, his mouth thinning at that fact.

"Where are you going?" Daniel questioned.

Vlad cringed, resisting the urge to snap at the man in response. He turned around and landed Daniel with a flat glare. "I'm going to my room to finish my homework." His jaw clenched tightly as he held back saying that he simply wanted to get away from the man for a moment and hopefully rid himself of a headache.

"Oh." Daniel blinked then grinned. "Well, that's good," he said, surprising Vlad, who eyed him suspiciously. Usually the man tried to drag him around to hang out, saying Vlad needed to "rest his brain" every now and then. Vlad's brow pinched as he wondered, in what way, this man was supposed to be tutoring him. Ignoring the fact that Vlad didn't need a tutor, Daniel hadn't done much that made him seem anything like a tutor. Did he act this way with the other students he tutored? Or did he simply act this way with Vlad because his help wasn't needed? "I'll just be in the kitchen," Daniel continued.

"Try not to burn anything down," Vlad called as Daniel hummed his way toward the kitchen. He frowned at the back of the man's head, still confused about how Daniel turned the mashed potatoes green on Thanksgiving. Whatever the man had planned to do in the kitchen had Vlad worried.

With a sigh, Vlad headed up the stairs, deciding as long as Daniel didn't set off the smoke detectors again, he shouldn't have anything about which to worry. The corners of his mouth turned downward as he walked down the hall to his bedroom. He paused, dark blue eyes drifting toward the door leading into the room in which Daniel was staying. That whole LARP experience was something he could have lived without ever knowing. Moving around a lot, at least, made the chilly day seem less cold, but he was exhausted by the time the whole thing was finished. That Clockwork person decided to dub Vlad another half ghost, which Vlad wasn't happy about but apparently didn't get a choice. Somehow, his strength combined with Daniel's power, and with some crazy strategy, they managed to put away the Ghost King.

But the memory of the LARP, which he planned never to do again, wasn't what bothered him. Vlad stepped up to the door, eyes zeroing in on the doorknob as he felt very tempted to enter the room. But Daniel was still in the mansion. If he went in there to try doing some more investigating about the man, Vlad would be at risk of getting caught. He wasn't stupid enough to play detective until Daniel left the mansion.

Vlad worried his lower lip. He didn't get it. Daniel pestered him about where he wanted to go after the LARP. Vlad didn't really have any place he cared all that much about visiting, so to silence the man, he blurted out the planetarium without much thought. Daniel looked things up and made all the plans, even had a picnic basket made up, mostly of what looked like prepackaged food from a convenience store, for their lunch. Vlad lowered his eyes, almost feeling an inkling of sadness. All that planning, and not once - Could he have forgotten?

Shaking his head, Vlad continued down the hall to his room. After toeing out of his shoes, he dumped them by his desk. His books and things sat neatly upon his desk, all his homework done by this point. With a sigh, he walked over then collapsed onto his bed. He lay there with his face buried in the soft fabric of thick comforter he added to his bed when it started turning cold. After a moment, he turned his head and stared at the window.

Why was he suddenly filled with an overwhelming sense of boredom? Vlad was tempted to blame it all on Daniel, claiming it to be his fault for disrupting his way of life and showing him what else the world had to offer. But when he thought on it, as much as it annoyed him, he realized maybe his life always felt a little boring. He did nothing but homework and studied all day. He wasn't very athletic, so he never participated in sports. He didn't really relate all that well to the other students in his class, so he didn't make many friends.

Maybe there was something lacking in his life. Daniel seemed so - Vlad frowned as he pondered the right word to describe the man. But how could he best describe the man? Daniel was happy and easy going and so full of, well, just life really. Daniel had a bunch of interests, or at least he seemed to from what Vlad could gather, and he made friends so easily with such a wide variety of people. What did Vlad have that he was passionate about? Beyond studying and broadening his knowledge, Vlad didn't have much interest in anything. Except his fanatic obsession with the Green Bay Packers. But maybe he needed something more to occupy his mind than loving a single football team.

Vlad blinked. Then he got up from the bed and walked over to the window. Pressing his hands to the cold glass panes, he stared out, watching the flakes of white drifting down from the cloudy sky. The weatherman reported that there was a high chance of snow, but the day, despite being cold, turned out to be fairly nice. Frowning as his eyes slipped half shut, he wondered if it snowed like this the day he was born. He never actually asked his parents anything about it, and they weren't the type to ramble on about how the birthing process went. His mother never tried to guilt him by complaining about being in labor for several hours. The knock at the door tore Vlad's gaze from the window where he watched the ground slowly turning white.

Daniel stood in the doorway with a big grin on his face. "I'm not interrupting, am I?"

"No," Vlad answered hesitantly, "you're not." He eyed the man, wary of what he had planned.

"Good. Come here for a moment." Daniel waved him over before disappearing from the doorway.

His mouth thinned as he gazed at the doorway for several long moments. What exactly did Daniel have up his sleeve this time? Vlad could never guess what was going on inside Daniel's head. The man was a complete mystery to him. But curiosity drove him forward, forcing his legs to move and carry him from his room. His brow knitted. He wasn't usually one to get curious about things, but Daniel somehow tickled his interest, making him want to solve the puzzling presence presented before him.

Vlad trotted down the stairs, following after the man into the front room. His steps grew more hesitant as he entered the room, not sure what he would find once he stepped through the doorway. He came to a sudden halt when his gaze fell upon the item sitting on the coffee table before the couch.

"Happy birthday, Vlad!" Daniel grinned widely.

"I-" Vlad couldn't think of anything to say. His birthday usually got glossed over during the whole Christmas holiday. His parents didn't bother to really celebrate it, instead simply waiting for Christmas to give him presents. They wished him happy birthday, of course, but that was the extent of any birthday activity on his actual date of birth. His gaze remained transfixed upon the cake with white icing along the sides. The top of the cake was decorated like a football field with the candles acting like the goal posts. In yellow icing, it read "Happy birthday Vlad!" Yanking his gaze away, he stared with wide eyes at the man.

"Sorry I didn't say anything earlier." Daniel scratched at a pink cheek. "I just wanted to make it a surprise."

Vlad was indeed very surprised, having thought for certain the man forgot all about his birthday. "Thanks," he murmured for lack of anything else to say, too stunned to form any coherent thought at that exact moment. He never imagined the man would go out of his way to buy a cake for his birthday. His eyes glanced over the man, and he nearly jolted when he took notice of the flour coating spots upon the man's clothing and in his hair and the splattering of batter and icing. "You baked it?"

Daniel chuckled as he scratched a hand through his white streaked raven hair then rubbed at the back of his neck. "Yeah." He glanced away in embarrassment. "Oh! And I got you something." He jogged over to the other end of the couch where he picked up a present wrapped in green paper and tied with a yellow ribbon that Vlad failed to notice in his shock over the cake. "I hope you like it." Smiling, he held out the gift.

If the cake shocked him, the gift, the mere fact that he was receiving a present on his birthday, blew his mind. Vlad accepted the gift then carefully tugged the ribbon free from it.

"Just rip into it," Daniel urged, almost bouncing with excitement as he waited for Vlad to open the gift.

"Not everyone is as juvenile as you, Daniel," Vlad answered with maybe a little too much superiority in his voice. But he wanted to savor this. An actual present on his birthday was a rare thing, and he wanted to make the experience last for as long as he could. The green wrapping paper joined the ribbon on the floor. Vlad waited one last moment, taking one last opportunity to enjoy this. Then he pulled the top from the box, and his jaw immediately dropped. His head snapped up to the man before he glanced back down at what was in the box.

"So," Daniel said, smiling a bit nervously, "do you like?"

"You got me a football," Vlad replied slowly as he took it out of the box, "signed by Ray Nitschke. I-" He really didn't know what to say now. He never imagined Daniel would get him a gift like this! "It's amazing! How did you ever get it?" He tore his gaze away from the football and gawked at the man.

"I might know someone with a few connections." Daniel shrugged, like it was no big deal when, in fact, it was a very big deal. People didn't normally get autographed items like this for presents. And it was his favorite football player too!

"Thank you," Vlad said in absolute awe of the gift. "I," he shook his head, "don't know what else to say."

"Thank you is usually enough." Daniel chuckled. "Now come on. Blow out the candles. Oh! And don't forget to make a wish." He moved to sit down on the couch and wait for the other man.

Vlad stared at the football in his hands, his fingers running over the signature upon the ball. Daniel really went out of his way to get something great for a birthday present. Chewing on his lip, Vlad joined the man on the couch. They only knew each other for three months now. Why did Daniel get him something amazing like this? Vlad didn't even know what kind of things Daniel would want for a present. _Oh_ , he thought with a somewhat miserable feeling as he frowned, _he won't be around for his birthday_. For some reason, that bothered him.

His brain scrambled for a wish. What would he even want to wish for? His hands squeezed around the football as he pondered over it. _I wish_ , he thought as he leaned forward and took in a deep breath, _I could understand Daniel better_. He blew out the candles easily in one breath.

"Now your wish will come true." Daniel grinned as he picked up a knife to slice into the cake.

Vlad watched him, wondering if it really would come true. But why did he pick that wish? It slipped into his head suddenly and just came out when he blew out the candles. But it wasn't untrue. He _did_ want to unravel the mystery that was Daniel. Every day, new questions about the man arose in his head without being answered. He put the football aside, resting it next to him on the couch, when Daniel held out the slice of cake for him.

"I really mean it," Vlad said, poking at his cake. "Thanks for the gift. It's really - It's the best gift I've ever gotten."

"I'm glad." Daniel dug his fork into his own slice of cake. "I wanted to be sure I got you something really special." He wrapped his lips around the fork and grinned at the man beside him.

Vlad dropped his gaze, feeling an odd flush of color on his cheeks. Why did Daniel have to be so - so _nice_ all the time? He shoveled a forkful of cake into his mouth, not really sure how to handle this whole situation. Or the strange feeling turning inside him.


	7. December 25

Vlad fumbled with the present sitting neatly wrapped on his desk. It was silly to get nervous about it now, after all the trouble he went through to get it. Leaning back in the chair, he sighed as he tied his hair in its usual ponytail. After his birthday, he started thinking about what he could get Daniel in return for the birthday present. Then he remembered the man saying that he wouldn't be around when his birthday came. With a frown, Vlad folded his arms. He couldn't return the gesture for a birthday present, so Christmas was his only real chance to give Daniel something nice, as a thank you.

The problem was that he didn't have the first clue of knowing what to get the man. Daniel remained a mystery to him. He had a crazy assortment of friends, and he could ramble on about various topics without end. But when he really thought about it, Vlad felt like he hardly knew anything real about the man despite all the time they spent around each other since Daniel took up residence within the mansion. He knew he could always go out to some random store and pick up some random present for the man, but that seemed far too impersonal. He wanted to give Daniel something of meaning, like the man did when he got the autographed football. But he also wanted it to be a surprised, and asking him directly about his likes and dislikes would alert Daniel to the fact that Vlad was up to something.

Though he encountered quite a few of Daniel's friends, Vlad didn't know any means of actually contacting them. He visited the college where they all participated in that LARP thing, but he didn't particularly like the idea of loitering around the campus in hopes that he would run into one of them. Since most students were off for the winter break, he couldn't count on any of them actually still being at the college anyway. With his mouth pursed, he realized he did have one option. He never wished to step foot in that foul place again, but he at least knew its location. When he arrived at his destination, Vlad cringed at the sight of the bar. It was still early in the day, so it didn't surprise him when he tried to open the door and found it locked.

Vlad glowered at the bar before him. Would he really have to wait until evening to be able to talk with the man? He realized, with even more frustration, that it was possible the man wouldn't even be working that night. But going to the bar to look for that Dash person was his best option at the moment. Unless Dash went home for the holiday already, which spelled bad news for Vlad, who at the moment felt like kicking something in his frustration. He grumbled under his breath, hunching his shoulders up to bury his face deeper in the thick scarf he wore as he shoved his freezing hands into the pockets of his coat.

"You looking for someone, kid?"

"I'm not a kid!" Vlad snapped then shrank back at the sight of the taller, and much more muscular, man that now stood beside him.

"Well," the man wore a cheerful grin as he placed his hands on his hips, "you're certainly too young to be visiting a place like this." He nodded his head toward the bar as raven bangs brushed just over his aqua green eyes. "Should I call someone to pick you up?" He reached into his pocket to pull out a cell phone.

"No," Vlad growled, wishing everyone would stop treating him like a child. He was eighteen now! He was an adult. "I was waiting for someone that works here."

"Oh?" The man blinked, mildly baffled by that announcement, before his smile was back. It reminded Vlad far too eerily of Daniel, of how his expressions would change but rapidly revert back that comfortable smile. "Well, I know most of the guys that work here. Who are you looking for?"

"I don't know his last name," Vlad mumbled, looking away in embarrassment. But how many men could be named that? "His first name is Dash though."

The man looked ready to punch the number into his phone, and Vlad wasn't really sure why he was talking to this stranger. Vlad knew better than that. This man could be some sort of crazy kidnapper or something just waiting to lure him into one of those white vans and smuggle him off to some seedy motel room to hold him for ransom. Or something. Or maybe Vlad just read too many articles and stories about such things happening. But the man blinked at him again before laughing and turning his head aside.

"Hey, Dash!" the man called out with too much amusement in his voice. "There's a kid here looking for you."

In a moment, the sort of familiar blond man poked his head around the corner of the bar. "Eh?" he responded in confusion until his dark blue eyes landed on Vlad. "Oh hey!" He chuckled as he came over to where they stood and slapped Vlad, hard, on the back, causing him to stumble a step. "It's the kid!"

"I'm not a kid!" Vlad shouted, teeth clenching painfully as he glared at the man.

"Wait! _The_ kid?" The other man gasped, totally ignoring the outburst, as he gawked at the blond man.

Dash nodded as he dropped one of his hands onto of Vlad's head and mussed up the otherwise perfectly neat ponytail, much to Vlad's annoyance. "So is Danny still sporting the badger hair?"

"Badger hair?" The other man lifted one thick eyebrow in question.

"Yeah, man! Next time he comes by, you totally need to drop by and see it. It's hilarious! You'd think he'd know better than to allow Ember to mess with his hair." Dash laughed boisterously, and the other man bit his lip but eventually joined in laughing. "Oh! Oh!" Dash poked at Vlad, each jab of the finger making him flinch. "What was it you called him? Little badger?"

"Yes," Vlad replied dryly with a sour expression, and the two men continued snickering.

"Oh man," the dark haired man said, wiping at his eyes with a finger, "Danny never fails to get into the craziest messes. I'm Kwan, by the way." He held out a hand, grinning to Vlad, like this whole encounter wasn't strange at all.

"Vlad," he said, hesitantly shaking the hand with a slight wince at the man's strong grip, "not kid."

"He sure doesn't take teasing well, does he?" Kwan questioned, turning his attention back onto the blond man.

Dash shrugged to his friend with a shake of his head. "So what did you need?"

"Well, three days ago it was my birthday," Vlad started, and suddenly talking about this to the man felt really awkward.

"Hey, you were cool to hang out with and all, but I barely know you. And I ain't got the money to just throw around to buy a random kid a gift," Dash said, frowning.

"That's don't have," Kwan corrected, bumping his elbow into the other man's ribs. "I don't have the money."

"Okay. Okay, Mr. Grammar!" Dash growled, snapping a glare at the man.

"Don't you give me that look," Kwan snapped with his hands on his hips as he glared right back. "It's important to know proper grammar. People won't take you seriously in an interview for a job if you go there talking like you're uneducated."

Dash growled as he roughed up the other man's hair. "I get it already!" He huffed as he folded his arms and very nearly pouted. "Anyway, k-Vlad," Dash said, rolling his eyes as Kwan tried to fix his hair, "I'm afraid I can't just give you a gift."

"I wasn't looking for you give me anything," Vlad said, glaring dully at the man. His family had money. He didn't handouts from a bartender.

"Then what _did_ you want?"

"Maybe if you let him explain," Kwan said, tugging on Dash's ear and making the blond man wince.

Vlad glared at Dash for a moment longer before he continued. "Daniel got me something really nice for my birthday, and well," he hunched up his shoulders, trying to hide his face in his scarf, "I wanted to get him something in return for Christmas, but I don't really know what kind of things he likes. So I thought if I talked to his friends, you might be able to give me some ideas."

"He told me once that he always wanted a dog," Dash said. "But his parents wouldn't get him one."

"I'm not getting him a dog." Vlad rejected the idea immediately.

"Well, he'd love anything to do with space," Kwan said, shrugging his broad shoulders. "I swear he's like a walking encyclopedia for space."

Vlad stared at him, mouth dropping open because it seemed so obvious after the man mentioned it. He remembered their trip to the planetarium on his birthday. At the time, he thought it was just another topic that Daniel was able to blather on about, but now it made a little more sense. The extensive knowledge that Daniel had about space wasn't simply random knowledge he picked up but something he spent time studying. Now he wondered if Daniel was attending college to learn even more about the topic.

"Space," Vlad mumbled and nodded. "I can probably work with that. Um," he stared at the pair of men and felt awkward having to say it to them, "thanks."

"Hey, no problem." Dash patted him on the shoulder. "Feel free to drop by anytime, k-Vlad."

Shaking the memory from his head, Vlad stood up from his desk, lifting the present into his arms. It was already past eleven in the morning, but when he went downstairs for breakfast, he saw no sign that the other man was awake. The mansion was decorated as usual for Christmas with strands of garland draped around and lining the banister. The tree stood in the front room, lit from top to bottom with lights and almost cluttered with ornaments. His parents hired decorators every year to dress the mansion up for the holiday.

Vlad waited for an hour after eating his breakfast, but Daniel still didn't make an appearance. He scratched his head over that fact for quite some time. He imagined Daniel was the type to remain a child when Christmas came and couldn't help rushing down the stairs the minute it was Christmas morning to start tearing into the presents. There weren't that many gifts under the tree this year. His parents sent him a few presents, books mostly, that arrived at least a week ago.

Walking down the hall, Vlad stopped in front of the door to the room that Daniel occupied. He frowned as he stared at the closed barrier, debating whether to knock or not. The man couldn't possibly still be asleep. Vlad hadn't known the man to sleep in too late. He raised his hand, awkwardly adjusting his hold on the present, and readied to knock, but his hand stilled when he heard a voice from inside the room. Leaning forward, he pressed his ear to the door to better hear what was being said.

"It's fine. I'm doing much better now," Daniel said, sounding more tired than Vlad could recall ever hearing in his voice. "My friends got me back on track so you don't need to worry about anything." He sighed, and a rustling noise suggested that he shifted on the bed. "I was just calling to say Merry Christmas, and I wanted to make sure the present got there." He chuckled. "I'm glad you liked it. Mmhm. Yeah. Got it. Um," he sounded hesitant, "if you talk to Mom and Dad, let them know... I'm sorry. For everything. Love you, Jazz."

Vlad stared at the door, almost too afraid to knock now after overhearing that conversation. What did any of it mean? Doing much better now? Back on track? His brow furrowed, but he didn't have enough information to puzzle out the mystery of those statements. He swallowed, thinking perhaps it would be better for him to leave the man alone for now. But his hand rapped a quick beat upon the door before he realized he knocked.

Soft thumps of footsteps approached the door, and in a moment, it opened to reveal Daniel, who wore a bright smile despite bags under his eyes like he didn't sleep all night. "Hey there, V-man," he greeted as he leaned against the doorframe. "What did you need?"

"Uh, well," Vlad mumbled, glancing away several times before settling his gaze on the man, who still wore loose pajama pants and a white T-shirt. "I'm kind of surprised you weren't already downstairs for Christmas morning."

"Oh." Danny blinked then rubbed awkwardly at his neck as he turned his gaze away. "Christmas was never really my thing."

Vlad could only gawk at him for several moments. How could Daniel, of all people, not be all excited about Christmas? It seemed like it would be his favorite holiday. That or Halloween. Maybe a tie between them. "Oh," he finally managed to say after getting over his shock. "Uh, I guess I shouldn't have gotten you something then." He dropped his gaze to the present in his arms, feeling stupid now.

"You got me something?" Daniel actually looked amazed by that fact as he let the door open a bit farther. "But I didn't get you anything!" He glanced frantically about the room, like he was searching for something that he could give Vlad in exchange.

"You don't need to give me anything," Vlad said, holding out the present to Daniel. "That football was worth at least a hundred presents, if not a thousand."

"That wasn't anything." Daniel laughed awkwardly as he accepted the present. Walking over to his bed, he dropped onto it then ran his hands over the present like it was a precious jewel. Then in a flash of bright green and red wrapping paper, he tore it open and gasped when he saw what lay beneath the wrapping. "No way!" He lifted his head to gape at Vlad. "You got me a telescope? And this is one of those nice, high end ones." He ran his hands over the box it came in, almost reverently caressing the packaging. "You really shouldn't have."

Vlad shrugged like it was no big deal, fighting back a flush of color on his cheeks. "You made my birthday feel like a real birthday. And you got me such an over the top gift. I wanted to," he reached up, rubbing at his neck as he stared at the floor, "show you how much I appreciated it."

"Man, it's a shame it's only morning." Daniel frowned at the window where daylight was streaming through the opened curtains. "We could have put this to use if it was already night. Hey!" He turned his head around and grinned at Vlad. "How about I make pancakes?" Then his expression fell. "Oh, but you probably already had breakfast."

"It's Christmas. No reason we can't have pancakes for lunch," Vlad suggested, if only to wipe away that saddened expression on the man's face. He couldn't really explain why, but he got used to Daniel's smile. When it was gone from his face, it was like the whole world grew a bit darker.

The suggestion of pancakes for lunch had Daniel grinning like an idiot. "And then when the sun goes down, we can set up this baby." He patted the telescope fondly before he laid it beside him on the bed and got to his feet. "Now what kind of pancakes do you like? Chocolate chip? Blueberry?" Daniel dropped his hands onto Vlad's shoulders and directed him out of the bedroom.

"Whatever kind you prefer." Vlad decided to hold off questioning about the phone call. As curious as he was, he didn't want to wipe away any of that happiness on Daniel's face.


	8. December 31-January 1

Vlad squeezed his arms around the man, still hating the infernal contraption known as a motorcycle. He suggested that they take one of his parents' car, he did have a license after all, but Daniel rejected the idea with the lame excuse that his motorcycle was faster. Vlad didn't really feel like going out that night. It was New Year's Eve, and people would be out partying late and getting drunk. A sneer crossed his face at the very thought of it, and anyway, with Daniel deciding to join the partiers, it would have been a perfect opportunity to try prodding at that box hidden away under his bed again.

Since Christmas, Vlad decided to get out and experience more of the world around him by allowing Daniel to drag him around whenever the man went off to do something. With all his homework finished, Vlad really didn't have anything to keep him busy until school started again anyway. When evening arrived on Christmas, they spent much of the night in the backyard while Daniel played with his new telescope, looking more like the excitable child on Christmas that Vlad expected. He couldn't say that space was something that gained a lot of his interest, but Daniel enjoyed talking about it, so Vlad sat by patiently listening to him. Through their outings after that night, Vlad found there was a lot that he didn't like doing, like ice skating. He really didn't like that wobbly feeling or falling on his face or butt every few seconds. Even if it was with a sneer, he was at least giving those things a chance instead of rejecting them outright.

Two days ago, Daniel found a cooking class that they were able to participate in for a small fee. Vlad actually enjoyed that, even if it was just in baking cookies. They left the class covered in flour and batter smears, and Vlad now understood why Daniel looked so sloppy after baking his birthday cake. The man could be a bit of klutz, but Daniel was fairly adept when it came to baking. His cookies tasted far better than Vlad's own cookies. Vlad still had to question how Daniel destroyed the turkey and turned the potatoes green for Thanksgiving.

The motorcycle came to a sudden halt, alerting Vlad to the fact that they finally reached their destination. When he was certain the motorcycle wouldn't go speeding off again, he drew his arms away from the man's body as he shakily climbed off the motorcycle. He would never like that thing. After removing the helmet, he fixed up his hair as best his could.

"I won't make you stay out all night," Daniel said with a cheeky grin. "But we should at least stay until midnight for the countdown."

Vlad groaned internally. His parents usually went out to some fancy party with people from work, leaving Vlad to spend the evening home alone. His normal New Years Eve routine consisted of having a single glass of champagne while watching celebrations on the television from around the world. Then he went to bed long before it reached midnight in his time zone. This would be the first time he went to a New Years Eve party, let alone stayed up for the countdown to the new year.

He turned his gaze onto the building they arrived at, and his eyebrows lifted in surprise. The mansion looked as fancy, if not fancier, than his own home. He twisted his head around to gape at the man, who turned away with an embarrassed look as he rubbed at his neck.

"It's Sam's place," Daniel explained and headed for the front door. "Her parents are sort of loaded." He pressed the doorbell as Vlad came to join him on the doorstep.

"I'm still thinking I should have just stayed at home." Vlad frowned, but inside he was still shocked by this news. He never imagined that any of Daniel's friends might be wealthy, and Sam never gave off the impression of coming from money.

"Nonsense!" Daniel hugged an arm around Vlad's shoulders, dragging him flushed against the man's side. "You've come so far from your hermit shell. You can't go back in now!"

"I think I'd-"

"Danny!" The door opened, and Sam appeared, drawing the badger haired man into a tight embrace. Her attire didn't surprise Vlad with the mostly black Goth look. Her shirt was a dark purple, collared button up, the sleeves of which she pushed up halfway to the elbow. Over the shirt, she wore a black vest that hugged around the subtle curves of her body. Even though they had met a few time after Halloween, Vlad still couldn't get that first encounter out of his head. He kept expecting the woman to come out in fishnet stockings and short, revealing clothes. "I'm glad you decided to come. Oh! And you brought Vlad with you." She turned her violet eyes onto Vlad. "Don't worry. We have sparkling cider for non-drinkers, or those too young to drink."

Vlad's mouth thinned, but he decided not to mention that he drank wine and champagne on occasion. He followed the pair into the mansion, watching with narrowing blue eyes as Sam kept close to Daniel as they headed into a room off to side of the front hall. There was already quite the gathering in the room, which had a large movie screen set into one wall. Music played in the background, though Vlad hadn't heard anything until they entered the room. Several of the guests were occupying the dance floor set up in the center of the room. Vlad wrinkled his nose at the sight of the mass of bodies practically writhing against each other in some perverse manner of dancing.

"I was thinking you wouldn't make it for the countdown," Sam said as she pulled Daniel away toward some other people in the room. She checked the watch on her wrist. "Only about forty-two minutes left until midnight."

Vlad remained standing near the door as he watched Daniel immerse himself into the gathering. He noted that the man turned away any drinks that were handed his way. What was he supposed to do now? This evening wouldn't be fun at all when he didn't really know anyone at the party, and the only person that he _did_ know was getting passed around like a celebrity of some sort. Daniel sure was popular, Vlad realized with a sour expression.

"If you make that face too much, it might stick that way," someone said, and Vlad tore his gaze around to blink at the blond man. Dash held a red plastic cup in his hand, and even from a brief whiff, Vlad could tell it was beer inside the cup.

"Oh hey! It's you again." Kwan grinned in greeting, leaning against the blond man. His cheeks were flushed a rosy pink, making Vlad wonder how much the pair of men had already drank that night. He reached out and patted Vlad on the head like he was a small child. "Did you end up finding a present for Danny?"

Vlad nodded as he smoothed out his hair. "He really liked the telescope. Thanks for the advice."

"No problem, kid. I'm glad we could help. Oh hey! There's Val!" Kwan spotted the woman across the room. "Let's go say hi." He tugged on the blond man's arm as he headed over toward the woman.

Vlad watched Kwan stumbling over his feet, and Dash had to help support his friend before he tripped and slammed face first into the floor. Hopefully, neither of the men would be driving until they sobered up. Keeping out of the way of the partying guests, Vlad found a chair in the corner where he could sit and not get run over by the large gathering. Parties was scratched off the list of things for him to see if he liked because he certainly did _not_ enjoy this party.

"Hey there, grouchy."

Vlad turned a glower onto the speaker and found Ember leaning back against the wall with her arms folded. One booted foot was braced against the wall as her green eyes surveyed the room. Instead of the single sleeved halter top that he remembered seeing her in last, she wore a glittery loose top with one side hanging off her pale shoulder.

"Did you have a fight with Danny?" Ember questioned, glancing curiously at Vlad.

"No." Vlad's brow wrinkled in confusion. "Why do you think that?"

"Because you've pretty much been glaring at him the whole time since the two of you arrived." Ember shrugged as her gaze drifted around the room.

Vlad blinked, sitting up a bit straighter. When he turned his head, he found Daniel immediately. The man was still hanging around Sam, both of them smiling and laughing as they chatted with each other. Vlad remembered Daniel denied that they were couple. Currently. Or at least back on Halloween. Could they have gotten back together since then?

"Let me guess." Ember drew his attention back to her. "He forced you to come out to this party."

Vlad frowned as he leaned back in the chair. "To be fair, I have been letting him drag me around a lot." Ember cocked an eyebrow at him with a curious look in her eyes. "I realized that outside of studying, I don't have much in the way of interests. What better way to get out and experience more of the world than to let Daniel cart me around? Even if I'm not happy about it all of the time." He folded his arms then immediately unfolded them when he was struck with the sudden feeling of acting like a spoiled child sulking in the corner when he didn't get his way.

Ember stared then nodded like she approved of his answer. "Danny sure has a way of getting around and taking up new hobbies. If you ever want to experience a million different things in a short time, he's the best choice. Though if you ever want to consider music," she smirked, "you should drop by the club some time."

"Club?" Vlad questioned with a lift of his brow.

"Yeah." Ember moved away from the wall as she reached into her back pocket and pulled out a card that she handed to him.

"Inferno?" Vlad read the name off the card. "I don't suppose the guy running the place is called Dante." He eyed the woman and thought he would have to smack his forehead if that turned out to be true.

"No, his name is John." Ember stared back blankly, clearly not picking up on the reference. "And don't worry about being underage." She plucked the card from his loose grasp then planted a purple kiss upon the back of the card. "Just show the guy at the door that, and he'll know you're a friend of mine." She grinned as she held out the card again.

"Should I be worried?" Vlad frowned at the card, staring at the lipstick mark.

"It's just a club." Ember laughed. "Oh, looks like the boy needs me." She rolled her eyes before offering a short wave and departing into the crowd. Vlad watched after her as she met up with the man with the sickly vibrant green Mohawk.

"There you are," Daniel said, dropping onto the armrest of the chair. "I was wondering where you disappeared to."

"Looked like you were having a lot of fun." Vlad stuck the card into his pocket as his mouth pressed thin.

Daniel shrugged. "Just catching up with a few people." His blue eyes swept around the room. "We can leave after the countdown. You don't look like you really want to be here."

_Of course not_ , was the first bitter thought to cross his mind, but Vlad took a breath before he could release that outburst. "It's not really my thing," he answered calmly. "I'm not really friends with any of these people, so it's not like I have anyone to talk to."

"You could have come joined me." Daniel smiled, but his eyes read a different expression.

"I didn't-"

"Oh, the countdown is starting!" Daniel turned his gaze toward the movie screen that was showing the countdown to midnight.

"Ten, nine, eight," the party guests counted down along with it.

Vlad stood up, preparing to finally get out of this place. He was thankful that Daniel at least wouldn't be forcing him to stay at the party for very long. Daniel followed, climbing to his feet, though his gaze remained trained on the countdown.

"Three, two," and Vlad cringed prematurely, clamping his eyes shut as he prepared for the noisy assault on his ears that was sure to follow the countdown, "one!" The party guests shouted out their cheers for the New Year, stomping feet on the ground and clapping hands and generally making as much noise as they could to celebrate. But all that noise seemed to fade away when, at the exact moment as the countdown ended, Vlad felt a pair of lips press against his face, close but not quite on the lips. His eyes snapped open, and he gaped at Daniel, who had already turned away to cheer with the rest of the crowd as a rain of confetti and glitter and streamers danced through the room.

"I think now is a good time for us to make our escape." Daniel grinned impishly as he grabbed hold of Vlad's wrist and dragged him toward the exit of the room.

Vlad stumbled along after him, his mind a jumble of thoughts. What was that kiss? It couldn't have been an accident. Who would kiss someone else by accident? But if Daniel meant to do it, then... _why_? The question circled around his brain dizzily, but he couldn't figure out the answer, which seemed to be the constant when it came to the mystery that was Daniel.

When they left the mansion, the cool night air washed over him, and it was then that he realized how warm his face felt. Vlad dropped his gaze to the ground. Now that he was aware of the flush upon his cheeks after the kiss, it only seemed to grow, even his ears feeling like they were burning. Why did Daniel have to do something like that?

"Heads up, kid," Daniel called, and Vlad had about one second to react before the helmet could smack him in the face. "Hey, good catch! You could try out for the football team or something." He grinned widely as he slid onto the motorcycle. "So do you have a New Year's resolution?"

Vlad hesitated as he gripped the helmet tightly in his hands. He was determined to learn more about Daniel, figure out the man, but at that moment, he could barely look at him out of embarrassment. Just a little more to the right, and that would have been his very first kiss on the lips. Was that just a joke with Daniel? Vlad couldn't seem get up the courage to ask about it.

"Just to live more, I guess," Vlad answered with a shrug. Then he tugged on the helmet and climbed onto the motorcycle, taking up the spot behind Daniel. But he felt hesitant to wrap his arms around the man. How was he even supposed to act around the man after that kiss? Should he simply act like it didn't happen? Despite his uncertainty and confusion, Vlad wrapped his arms around Daniel, securely holding on before they took off and sped away from the mansion.


	9. January 13

School started up again after the winter holiday, and Vlad returned his focus to his studies. Most of his attention, anyway. The final minutes of his last class before heading into the weekend were slowly counting down as the hands of the clock above the board inched closer to the end of school at a snail's pace. He was barely paying attention to what the teacher said, jotting down notes on a clean piece of paper, but his mind was distracted, as it had been since New Years.

The kiss replayed in his mind, and even if it was only for a brief moment and on the cheek, it still made him blush and feel a fluster of emotions all jumbled up inside him. Vlad kept debating whether or not he should talk to Daniel about the kiss. It could have meant absolutely nothing to Daniel. The man could have simply been acting like his usual, carefree self. The kiss could be like a greeting, a handshake, to Daniel; something he did with all his friends. Daniel _had_ spent most of the night with his friend Sam, and they looked pretty cozy together. A miserable feeling made it feel like Vlad's heart was sinking lower in his chest. Weren't Sam and Daniel back together, as a couple? Why would Daniel waste his New Years kiss on Vlad? Wasn't that something that people who were dating did?

Vlad sighed, pressing the heel of one palm against his eye. Thinking about it was giving him a headache, but he couldn't get the kiss out of his mind. He couldn't get _Daniel_ out of his mind. The man sneaked into his thoughts at odd moments, like when he was trying to concentrate on his education. When he thought about Daniel, Vlad couldn't ignore that warm feeling that seemed to grow in his chest. Was that what people normal felt when they liked someone? He really didn't know a whole lot about that kind of stuff, and he didn't really have anyone to talk to about it. He didn't have lots of friends like Daniel, and he still couldn't work up the courage to say anything to the man about the kiss.

Vlad leaned his head in his hand, frowning down at the scribble of notes. He felt so alone and lost about what he was feeling toward Daniel. There was a lot that he still didn't know about the man. What was in that box? What was with that conversation Vlad overheard on Christmas? What did the man need to get "on track" with? What happened between him and his parents? Should he ask the man directly about those things? Vlad doubted Daniel would be willing to answer those questions, especially if he was taking steps to make sure they stayed secret. He could try to uncover the man's secrets by searching his room, but the only questionable thing in there was the box that he still couldn't open.

The bell rang, at long last, and Vlad heaved a sigh of relief that he could finally get out of there. He flipped the notebook shut and packed it away into his bag along with his other things. Standing up, he shouldered the straps of his bag, but before he could leave, he found his teacher standing in front of him. She was a short woman with her dark hair that just brushed her shoulders. She lifted her hand and adjusted the too large glasses that always seemed to slip down the slope of her nose.

"I wanted to see if you were feeling all right," Mrs. Monroe said, frowning in concern. "It seemed like you were a bit distracted in class today, and ever since school started up again."

Vlad realized he must be way more distracted with his thoughts about Daniel than he thought if his teachers were noticing his distraction. "I won't let it affect my grades," he told her, shaking his head. Even if Daniel kept popping into his head, Vlad wasn't going to let that cause him to start dropping his grades.

"I certainly hope you won't." A small smile appeared on her face. "But," she frowned again, "I want you to know that if there's anything troubling you, you can always come to discuss it with me. Or one of the counselors. We're here to help our students however we can."

Could he really talk to her about his problems, Vlad wondered? For all of his school career, he suffered the harassment of bullies, and the teachers didn't seem to care at all if one of their students was getting physically hurt by another. "It's nothing troubling," Vlad answered. "I've just been thinking about something. I won't let it distract me anymore." He bobbed his head to her then made his way toward the door.

Vlad couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't get distracted by Daniel during class, but he would try not to be as noticeable about it. He hoped, at least. He didn't need his teachers contacting his parents out of worry that something was going on with him. But what was he going to do about Daniel? Maybe talking to the man would be for the best, if nothing else to get the thoughts out of Vlad's head.

With a tired sigh, he stepped out of the building, pondering how he could possibly bring up any of this to Daniel. He already felt like a fool thinking so much about that kiss. It wasn't even on the lips! It was a mere peck on the cheek; something his mother would do on occasion. But his thoughts ground to a halt when he heard the whispers of lingering students around him.

"Who is that?" one of the girls questioned.

"He's really cute," another whispered back with a giggle.

"Do you think he has a girlfriend here?"

"If anyone, it's probably Olivia."

Vlad caught the blond that spoke rolling her eyes at that name. Olivia Watson was, of course, the most popular woman at their school. Rumors circulated around recently that she had gotten an older boyfriend that attended the local college. Whatever. It wasn't any of Vlad's business who the prettiest woman at their school dated. The gossip that ran through the school like wildfire could be sickening to listen to at times. He turned to start walking home.

"Vlad!"

At that familiar voice, Vlad halted with a cold jolt running up his spine as warmth tried to spread over his cheeks. What was Daniel doing here? After all the time since he came to stay with Vlad, Daniel never came anywhere near his high school. Why was he here now? Vlad's brain raced, searching for an explanation to the man's sudden appearance, but he was jerked from his thoughts when Daniel reached him, slapping a hand to Vlad's back. Daniel grinned, completely oblivious to the way his presence was getting looks and whispers as everyone in the schoolyard watched what was happening between them.

"What are you doing here?" Vlad mumbled, keeping his gaze turned away from Daniel, though he didn't bother to knock away the hand that remained on his shoulder.

"Well, we ended up not having class this afternoon, so I thought I would come pick you up," Daniel answered, remaining as cheerful as always. "And I found out that they were having another one of those cooking classes today. I thought, well, I think you had fun, so I thought maybe we could check it out again."

Vlad rolled his dark blue eyes. "Not like you need any help baking things." A smirk tugged at his mouth. "Unless it's to teach you how _not_ to make a mess."

Daniel shrugged, dropping his hand away from the shoulder. "Where's the fun in being neat?"

"Oh, what's this?"

Vlad stiffened at that voice. He managed to get through the day without running into his bully even once. He had to hide out at lunch to avoid running into the jock, but at least he had the hope of going the day without getting beat up on or stuffed into a locker. He couldn't even begin to guess how many times he had that happen to him. Turning his head, he frowned dully at Jared Castle, who smirked smugly, cracking the knuckles of his large fist that promised pain and a dozen bruises if he got his hands on Vlad.

"Does little Vladdie waddie need his big bad babysitter to change his diapers?" Jared snickered, and a few of the students around him joined in while a couple others only laughed awkwardly at the question.

"Wow! How clever of you!" Daniel laughed, but it was thick with sarcasm. "I guess you do deserve some points for the alliteration." He frowned as he turned his attention back to Vlad. "I thought this was a school for the elite geniuses." He lifted an eyebrow in question. "Because I've seriously heard better insults from a four year old. And I gotta tell you, she had such a sharp mind for insults even at that age. If that's the best this guy has, he's totally not worth the time."

Vlad could only stare at Daniel in surprise as whispers spread around them. Daniel took hold of Vlad's arm, pulling him along toward the gate of the high school.

"Oh, the babysitter really thinks he's the big bad, doesn't he?" Jared called out mockingly. "Did you think you'd get me quaking in my boots with that? Sounds to me like you're just as much a coward as little wittle Vladdie waddie."

Daniel ignored the bully as they neared his motorcycle parked right outside the gate. Vlad didn't mind that since he wanted to avoid Jared as much as possible. But he feared Jared would be looking for blood come Monday, and the blood he sought would be Vlad's.

"Ignoring me?" A growl entered Jared's voice, and Vlad grew worried about what the bully would do. He rushed to beat them, blocking them off from reaching the motorcycle. Vlad glanced back and saw the crowd of students gathered at the gate to watch if there would be a fight or not.

Daniel sighed tiredly as he released his hold on Vlad. His expression read that he couldn't believe he had to deal with some little high school punk. In that moment, Daniel actually looked his age, seemed more like an adult. "Are you really trying to provoke me into a fight?" He folded his arms as his mouth thinned, the happy joker disappearing. "Because that would be a complete waste of everyone's time. You think I haven't dealt with your kind before? The jock that beats up on those that are smarter than he? The ones that are different? The ones that don't fit into what cool and popular? You're not even worth the time it takes to say your name. All you're heading for is a dead end job. If you don't end up in jail by taking your bullying too far and killing someone. Vlad's going to be rich and successful one day. When that happens, you won't even be a bleep in his memory. You'll be forgotten. Just some faceless idiot that happened to attend the same high school. You're. Not. Worth. It." Daniel emphasized each word with a slow growl as he narrowed his eyes. Anger practically radiated off the man, and Vlad could stare only at him, bully forgotten as he wondered all the more about the man's life.

"Am I suddenly supposed to change my ways now?" Jared snorted, brown eyes glowering at Daniel. "Am I suddenly supposed to become some upstanding citizen who befriends everyone he meets?"

"No," Daniel frowned, shaking his head, "I suppose you wouldn't. And that's sad, really. You're heading for a terrible life. You have the chance to make something of yourself, and you're just going to throw it away. What you feel inside," he leaned closer to the bully, a scarily serious expression on his face, "it's going to eat you up until you're nothing but hate and anger. If you're wise, you'll reevaluate your life."

"How about you reevaluate my fist?" Jared shouted as he drew back his arm. He drove his fist forward, but Daniel moved faster and landed a hard blow to the bully's stomach that made Jared freeze. Brown eyes bulged from their sockets as Jared sank to his knees.

"If you touch Vlad again, harm him in any way," Daniel said in a slow, steady voice that made the hair on Vlad's arms raise, "I will find you and return the favor tenfold." He stepped around Jared and picked the neon green helmet with the black stripe down the center that he always gave Vlad when they took his motorcycle. "Let's get going," he addressed Vlad, tossing the helmet that Vlad was ready for and caught with easy. "The class starts in twenty minutes, and it'll probably take at least fifteen, maybe eighteen, minutes to get there." He pulled on his own black helmet with the ghost design on it.

Vlad hesitated as his gaze fell onto Jared, who actually looked like he might vomit at any second after that blow to the stomach. The whispers from the students behind him tugged at his ears, and he realized, tiredly, that they would probably spread around what happened all over school. Pulling on the helmet, he passed Jared without a second look and climbed behind Daniel onto the motorcycle.

"I'm a little scared of you right now," Vlad admitted quietly. Every muscle in his body felt tense because he had never seen this side of Daniel before, and it was a terrifying sight. He preferred that happy joker, he realized. He liked Daniel's smile. He liked when Daniel did things that made him look silly and goofy and he joked around and blathered on happily about things. He didn't like this Daniel who looked like he could have easily seriously injured Jared and not care one iota about what happened to the bully after they left.

Daniel twisted his head around and stared at Vlad. His bright blue eyes clouded over for a moment as his mouth pulled downward. "Sorry," he mumbled, half turning his head away. "I don't like that part of me." His eyes turned sad, and it stabbed at Vlad's heart. He _really_ didn't like to see Daniel like that. "If you want, we can just head back to your house instead."

Vlad couldn't deny that he felt hesitant about answering the man. "If you want to go, I don't mind going with you. It was fun last time." His heart felt like it beat a touch faster when a smile tugged at Daniel's mouth. Vlad especially liked when Daniel smiled at him.


	10. January 29

When they arrived at the small cooking school, Vlad wasn't sure what to expect after they climbed off the motorcycle. Would he enjoy the class with the fun, happy Daniel, or would he be tense the whole time with the scary, serious Daniel? After removing his helmet, Daniel still seemed to be in that serious mode, in which he refused to even meet Vlad's eyes as they entered the building where the class would be held in one of the rooms. But as soon as they were in the classroom and putting on their aprons, Daniel smiled widely at him, seeming to change, like flipping a switch, back to his usual happy self. Vlad wasn't sure if it was healthy for the man to be able to flip back and forth so easily like that, but he was relieved to see Daniel return to how Vlad best knew him.

The cooking class was fun, and they learned how to make fresh noodles, which involved getting flour everywhere yet again. Vlad honestly had no idea how the man managed to make such a mess doing simple tasks, but Daniel seemed to enjoy himself. Seeing the smile that spread onto Daniel's face as he rolled the dough out flat, Vlad smiled too because the man looked so happy when he was cooking.

It became a routine with them. On weekends, when Vlad was finished with his homework, they would go to the cooking school and take one of their classes. On nights during the week when Daniel didn't need to go out somewhere, they enjoyed the evening in as they messed around in the kitchen. Daniel even started baking fresh bread some nights so that it would be ready the next morning for breakfast. Somehow, it all made the big mansion feel more homey.

But that only served to make Vlad wonder all the more about his feelings toward Daniel. Vlad managed to shut off his thoughts on Daniel while he was at school, which was difficult not only because Daniel had a way of sneaking into his head, but because the other students were taking a sudden interest in him after the scene Daniel made at the high school. It was mostly girls that came up to Vlad, dragging him over to sit with them at lunch as they asked him a million questions about Daniel.

There were a few boys that came up to Vlad, who flinched on instinct when he saw them raise a hand toward him, but they only patted him on the shoulder and told him that Daniel's words really got them thinking. Daniel's presence seemed to have an effect that swept through the high school, bullies taking the words to heart and starting to change. Jared sneered bitterly every time he passed by Vlad, clearly not one to learn from past experiences, but he kept his distance. Vlad doubted the harassment was over, but at least he had fewer people to worry about after that day Daniel dropped by the high school.

But after everything school related was finished with for the day, Vlad's mind inevitably returned to thinking about Daniel. Having the man around only made his presence that much stronger in Vlad's mind. Even if he didn't care a great deal about space, Vlad still joined Daniel every time the man brought out his telescope for stargazing. Those nights were always nice and peaceful, though Vlad often found that he was staring at Daniel far more than up at the night sky.

Tonight, however, Daniel went out somewhere earlier, leaving Vlad home alone to do as he pleased. While he was highly interested in getting that secret box open, Vlad couldn't think of a way to open it that didn't involve destroying it in the process. He preferred not to leave any evidence of his attempts to unlock the mysteries of Daniel.

So Vlad decided to go with another option. A frown pulled at his mouth as he stared at the sign over the door that read Inferno in blazing text. Now that he stood before the club, he was regretting his decision, already thinking this kind of place wouldn't appeal to him. But Ember _did_ invite him to stop by the place sometime, and she might be able to offer him some insight on Daniel.

"ID," the big man at the front entrance said, holding out a hand as he waited for Vlad to present him with his identification. The man's muscles might actually be larger than Kwan and Dash's, though Vlad thought he would need to see the three men together for an accurate comparison. The shaggy black hair hung down over green eyes that gave the man a dangerous air about him. He wore a bright green hoodie over a black shirt. The hoodie had the logo for the club on the left side, and under the logo, stitched in black cursive print, was the name Wulf.

Vlad swallowed thickly, feeling all the more hesitant about this idea. "I'm under twenty-one."

Thick eyebrows knitted as the man's mouth thinned. "Can't let you in then."

Vlad wasn't surprised by the man's response. It was his job, after all, to keep those under the age of twenty-one out of the club which would, undoubtedly, serve alcohol. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the card that he received at the New Years Eve party. Should he really go through with this? He could probably get away with simply waiting around until Ember came out of the club. But who knew when that would be? Sighing internally, Vlad held out the card to the man.

Wulf lifted an eyebrow as he took the card and turned it over to glance at the back of it. His mouth pursed, eyes narrowing, and Vlad thought for certain the man tell him to get lost. "Ember invited you?" Wulf sighed, shaking his head. "What is she doing inviting a kid to this place?" He handed the card back to Vlad as he opened the door.

"I'm eighteen," Vlad muttered irately. Why was it no one seemed to realize that? Because they were a few years older than he, they thought that gave them the right to treat him like he was still five?

"And I'm thirty-three," Wulf said, catching Vlad's arm. "What're you complaining about?" He pressed a stamp to the back of Vlad's hand, and when the man pulled it away, Vlad could read "underage" in capital, black lettering. "You shouldn't get so worked up over something as silly as being called a kid. You think I like it when someone calls me old man or geezer?"

"I-" Vlad frowned, guessing that the man knew what it felt like to be referred to by a term he didn't like. Wulf didn't even really look that old. "Sorry. I guess I just get tired of it."

"Don't take it too hard. If Ember's calling you kid, she doesn't mean it to be an insult." Wulf nodded his head toward the open door. "Go on in."

"Uh, thanks." Vlad bobbed his head awkwardly before he ducked into the club.

It didn't surprise him that once he was inside the club, he was hit with the smells of alcohol, perfume, and sweat all entwined into an odor that made him gag. How anyone could stand to be in a place like this, he would never understand. He made his way around the edge of the small crowd taking up the center space of the club, and it reminded him of being back at Sam's mansion for the New Years Eve party with all the people on the dance floor as they lewdly grinded against each other. Other people were hanging out at the bar or in booths around the dance area. They seemed to be happily enjoying conversations with those around them.

Vlad ignored them as he tried to seek out Ember. She couldn't be that hard to spot with her bright blue hair. The fact that she was on stage made it infinitely easier for Vlad to zero in on her location. She stood in front of a microphone, playing her purple guitar with blue flame designs on it as she sang. Her voice wasn't that bad, though her music wasn't entirely the style that Vlad liked. He waded his way closer to the stage area where there was a small crowd listening avidly to the band playing.

When he reached the stage, Vlad jumped in surprised when he recognized one of the members in the band playing with Ember. Daniel stood to the left and a bit behind Ember as he strummed along to the song on his sleek black guitar. His style of dress reminded him of the night when Ember first dyed a streak of his hair white. His leather pants hugged tightly around his body, and Vlad was certain that some of the women present to listen to the band were staring at and drooling over Daniel. He glowered at them, but he supposed he couldn't really blame them when Daniel looked good in those pants. But more importantly, Vlad shook thoughts of the man's body from his mind, Daniel could play guitar! Vlad was mesmerized just watching the movement of Daniel's long fingers moving along the neck of the guitar as he strummed out cords. Daniel seemed to be an endless well of talent, Vlad discovered as he grew to know more about the man little by little.

Daniel's hair was spiked up a bit in a sort of faux hawk style. Now that Vlad saw the man alongside the rest of the band, he sort of agreed with Ember about the badger hair. In a strange way that he couldn't really explained, the hair seemed to really work for Daniel and somehow made him fit in more with the rest of the band, who all sported crazy hair styles or colors too. Vlad was starting to wonder if Daniel was some sort of chameleon, able to adopt different personas whenever he needed to blend in with a new crowd. Could that be how he ended up with friends in so many different social circles?

"Well, that's it for our set tonight," Ember announced to disappointment of her fans who groaned as they started to disperse from around the stage. The music switched over to the DJ, who put on a record with a loud, heavy beat that was easy to dance to. Vlad walked up and leaned against the stage as the band worked at packing away their instruments.

"So this is where you go every night?" Vlad questioned curiously.

Daniel nearly dropped his guitar when he heard Vlad's voice. He snapped his head around, mouth hanging open as he stared at the younger man. A flush of color crept over his cheeks. "Uh, n-not every night," he answered, his blue eyes darting off to the side.

"Oh, hey!" Ember grinned as she leaned on Daniel. "The kid actually showed up." She smirked down at Vlad. "I was beginning to think you were going to ditch out on my offer."

Daniel frowned as he narrowed his eyes at the singer. "What exactly did you offer him?" Vlad wondered what thoughts were running through Daniel's mind at that moment because the man didn't look happy when he heard about an offer being made between the other two.

"You're so adorable," Ember teased as she pinched Daniel's cheek. "He mentioned that you were introducing him to a lot of different things. So I told him if he ever had an interest in music, he should drop by. If I could teach you," she poked Daniel in the chest, "to play guitar, I think I can pretty much teach anyone."

Daniel rolled his eyes then turned toward Vlad. "Did you have an interest in music?" There was something in his eyes that made Vlad's brow knitted in confusion. Was that hurt? "If I had known, you could have just caught a ride with me instead of coming down here yourself."

"Oh, hey! We can let the guys finish with the packing up," Ember suggested.

"Hey!" protested the man with a bright green Mohawk, holding a guitar that was shaped like a bright green skull. He frowned, almost pouting at having to do all the packing. "Oh, who am I kidding?" He sighed, his shoulders slumping. "We always end up doing all the work." The bassist patted him on the shoulder, understanding his pain, as Daniel and Ember hopped down from the stage.

"Don't worry about them." Ember waved off her band mate's complaint. "They always whine about it, but I do help out."

"Rarely," Daniel put in and received a punch to his arm.

"Okay, dipstick. So I rarely help with packing up the equipment," Ember grumbled, glaring at Daniel. "Anyway," she clapped her hands together as she smiled, "I'm starving! I say we go grab something to eat." She threw her arms around their shoulders as she guided them toward the exit of the club.

Vlad had no complaints because he was more than happy to leave the club. The smell inside was making his head hurt. When they stepped outside and the clean night air hit him, he breathed in deeply, happy that there was no gross odors lingering in the air.

"Hey, Wulf!" Daniel greeted, lifting a hand that the bouncer automatically slapped in a high five. "I'll remember to bring you cookies next time."

"The ones with the raisins in them?" Hope shone in Wulf's eyes.

Daniel nodded with a grin. "Yup! Those are the ones." He waved a hand as Ember pulled him along away from the club.

"So music, huh?" Ember questioned, hugging Vlad closer.

"Uh, maybe," Vlad replied awkwardly. His actual reason for seeking out Ember was to try to, hopefully subtly, weasel out some information about Daniel from her. He could still try, but he was more hesitant about it now that Daniel was there with them. He didn't want the man to realize that he was fishing for information about him. "So how long have you two been in a band?"

"Hm, how long has it been?" Daniel mumbled in wonder as he tapped a finger with a black painted nail against his chin. "A year? Year and a half at the most."

"It's more of an on-off sort of thing," Ember said with a shrug. "I started teaching him guitar. Then one of my guys got sick so I had him fill in for a gig. Then, well, the girls," she grinned at Daniel, "really liked him, so I decided to keep him around." She reached over and ruffled his hair, mussing up the faux hawk the man had.

"You have to admit, I got pretty good." Daniel puffed out his chest, looking perhaps a little too proud of his abilities. Ember rolled her green eyes as she gave him a shove.

They reached a restaurant after a short walk while Daniel and Ember held the conversation, talking about various things related to music. Vlad squashed down a hint of a jealousy as he watched how easily they talked to each other. He could almost believe there was something more between the pair, but Ember had a boyfriend, if he remembered correctly. And didn't Daniel have Sam? Or maybe Vlad was just reading too much into their interactions from New Years.


	11. February 14

Hanging out with Ember was a little awkward for Vlad, mostly because he didn't know much about music, especially the style of music that she played. When the two of them broke into talk about guitars and amps and other technical musical references, Vlad felt absolutely lost and could only sit there munching on a soggy fry as he stared across the table at the pair chatting on excitedly. Even if he was lost though, Vlad enjoyed seeing this side of Daniel. The man always seemed so passionate about whatever he did. He didn't pick up a hobby and half ass it then dropped it in the next moment. He dived head first into learning about it and worked to improve on it and had fun along the way. Vlad really admired that about him. He hoped to have some of that in him too, even if it was only for a single hobby. He just - He didn't want to go through life any more feeling like the empty shell he was before meeting Daniel when all his life revolved around was his school work.

Unfortunately, after his visit to the club Inferno, Ember decided to drop by more frequently, announcing that it would be her mission to help Vlad learn to play an instrument. Vlad felt rather grumpy about it, not liking that she was crowding in on his time with Daniel. It interrupted the time Daniel and he usually spent cooking together as Ember tried to teach him how to play the guitar and only decided to call it quits for the night after Daniel announced that dinner was ready. After a week, Vlad didn't show much in the way of improvement.

"Well, there are any number of instruments for you to learn," Daniel said after a Monday night lesson as they sat down at the dining table to eat spaghetti with the handmade noodles that Daniel prepared earlier. "It doesn't seem like you're really enjoying the guitar. Maybe you should pick something more suited to you."

"Oh!" Ember's green eyes lit up with excitement. "What about drums? I can get Jones to come over and he can teach you." She grinned widely at the suggestion as she twirled a few noodles around her fork.

"No," Vlad answered at once with a severe frown in her direction. "Drums are much too loud and obnoxious. The neighbors would probably call the police for the noise disturbing the peace of the neighborhood." He really didn't care for the idea of trying to play the drums. Ember pouted over his rejection, but Daniel seemed to nod in understanding.

"I don't think the drums would really suit you anyway," Daniel admitted, but it didn't come off sounding like an insult. It was more of a general statement, like he was saying the spaghetti sauce could maybe use a bit more salt for flavoring. He squinted his blue eyes at Vlad as he held a hand to his chin, appearing to consider things very carefully. "I think you'd probably do best with a classical instrument. Something like a flute or the violin."

"I did always like the orchestra," Vlad admitted, blinking in surprise at Daniel. It wasn't something that he would have confessed being passionate about, but he did enjoying sitting and listening to the way all the instruments were brought together in perfect harmony as the orchestra played. "The violins were my favorite." He really couldn't explain why. He simply liked the way they sounded as the bow was drawn back and forth over the strings, producing a rich sound that seemed to resonate within him. When his parents took him to hear the orchestra, he always liked to close his eyes and simply focus on the music played by the violins. It only occurred to him, though, right then when Daniel mentioned it.

"I don't have any violins for him to practice with," Ember said before sticking the twirled wad of noodles into her mouth. She wasn't exactly the most graceful eater, getting spaghetti sauce smeared around her mouth that she later licked clean with her tongue.

"We can probably find someone to borrow one from, or rent it," Daniel suggested. "It would be a waste to buy one if Vlad then decides he doesn't like playing it." Vlad blinked again at Daniel for saying something so sensible. The man actually took into consideration alternative options to simply throwing away money to purchase something that might go unused to collect dust in some closet or get sold back at a much cheaper price. Daniel didn't act like simply because Vlad came from a wealthy family that he would be perfectly okay throwing around his money like it was nothing but pocket change.

Vlad sighed tiredly as he entered the house after what felt like an extraordinarily long day at school. He prayed that Ember would give him the night off because he really didn't feel like doing much of anything at all for the rest of the night. The violin lessons were going surprisingly well, much better than the guitar lessons. He still made painful to listen to screeches on occasion when he drew the bow over the strings, but they were becoming fewer and farther between. He was getting better, and he was actually enjoying it. But all day long, he got bombarded with the sight of pink and red hearts everywhere and people passing out chocolates and cards to each other. All the lovey dovey romance filling the school got kind of sickening to watch, putting Vlad in a rather grouchy mood.

He reached his bedroom to put away his book bag when it finally hit. Today was February the fourteenth. It was Valentine's Day. He groaned, thinking about the stupidity of the commercialized holiday. People got all romantic for the silly holiday, and seeing the all the happy couples in love with each other only served to point out all the more sharply that he didn't have anyone. He paused as he dropped his book bag on his desk, a frown drawing across his face. If he was involved with anyone, Daniel would probably being going out tonight to do something romantic. Vlad stared blankly at his desk as he realized that he wished Daniel would stay in tonight.

_Stay with me_.

A flush colored his cheeks. Vlad wasn't sure when exactly he realized he did like Daniel in a more than friends way, but it got harder to deny when he thought about how attractive the man was or the dreams of the New Years Eve party that ended instead of with the peck on the cheek like it really happened but with a kiss on the lips that made him feel much too warm inside when he thought about it. He _wanted_ Daniel to kiss him, but he was scared at the same time. What if Daniel didn't think of him like that? What if Daniel didn't even like men like that? What if Daniel thought being gay was disgusting and wanted to leave? It scared him to think that Daniel would leave him when Vlad wanted to learn so much about him.

But he didn't have that much time with the man left anyway. His parents would be home for his graduation, and when they returned, Daniel would have no reason to stick around. Vlad almost wished that his senior year would never end so that Daniel would never have to leave.

With that depressing thought rolling around in his head, Vlad left his bedroom, deciding that his poor mood needed something sweet and fattening. Did they still have ice cream in the freezer? He couldn't remember if they even bought ice cream recently. If there wasn't ice cream in the freezer, he could always go out and buy himself some. There was a nice little ice cream shop not too far from where he lived that made the best, creamiest ice cream he ever had.

When he reached the kitchen, Vlad paused before he could head for the refrigerator. His dark blue eyes stared at Daniel, who was at the island bopping his head and shaking his rear end while he poured a dark, gooey substance into a clear glass baking pan, spreading it out evenly with a spatula. As usual when it came to baking, Daniel had flour in his badger hair and over his clothes. There was an egg yolk stain on left side of his white shirt and a few dark smears here and there. He set the mixing bowl off to the side once he emptied it of all the batter.

Curiously, Vlad wandered over to the island and leaned on the counter as he watched the man crouch in front of the oven to preset it. When he stood up straight again, Daniel jumped in surprise after his blue eyes landed on Vlad. With a sigh, he pulled the earplugs from his ears and switched off the music player that was in his pocket.

"I didn't hear you come in," Daniel admitted, scratching at a pink cheek. A frown settled on his face as his gaze dropped to the baking pan. "This was going to be a surprise."

"A surprise for whom?" Vlad lifted his eyebrows, wondering who Daniel would possibly be going through the trouble of baking something for on Valentine's Day. Sam's name sprung to his mind, and Vlad struggled not to scowl at the thought of Daniel skipping off to spend the night with the woman.

Daniel tilted his head, seeming confused by the question until a smile spread onto his face as he laughed. "For you, of course." He reached across the island, dropping his hand on Vlad's head and mussing up his neat locks. "Who else would I mean?"

Vlad's mouth pursed as he tried to straighten his hair. He pulled back his hand and groaned at the glob of brown goo that coated his fingers. "Ugh, you got it in my hair!"

"Sorry." Daniel winced as he walked over to the kitchen sink. "You can probably wash it out under here," he offered, turning on the spray and washing the batter off his hands.

Wearing a grumpy expression, Vlad joined the man at the sink. Despite his hesitancy, he leaned over and stuck his head under the spray of cool water. He almost jerked his head away when he felt a tug on the band holding his hair back. Daniel chuckled as he kept Vlad head under the spray, allowing his hair to fall free from its usual ponytail. Vlad bit his lower lip as Daniel's long fingers ran through his hair, carefully rinsing the batter from the long locks.

"Okay. I think I got it all out," Daniel announced, and Vlad was almost disappointed that it wasn't something a lot more difficult to clean that got caught in his hair.

When Vlad stood up straight, Daniel was ready with a towel that he dropped onto the younger man's head. Vlad opened his mouth to complain, but he snapped it shut and allowed Daniel to dry his hair. He felt like a child at that moment, but it didn't bother him as much as he thought it should. Because it was Daniel, and he was smiling as he rubbed at the wet locks.

But a buzzer from the oven interrupted the moment, and Daniel turned away from him, leaving the towel half burying Vlad's head. Tugging the towel down around his neck, Vlad watched as Daniel placed the baking pan into the oven and set the timer. Once that was done, Daniel picked up the mixing bowl and carried it over to the sink to be washed. He paused with a sponge in his hand as he glanced toward Vlad.

"You never answered who you thought I meant." Daniel lifted a curious eyebrow.

Vlad turned his gaze away, feeling like the warm light of a candle was suddenly snuffed out inside him with that wondering look in Daniel's eyes. "Oh, um," he mumbled, tugging at the ends of the towel. "I thought maybe you were making them for Sam." He threw a nervous glance toward Daniel, waiting for the man to give some hint that he got back together with his old girlfriend.

"Sam?" Daniel blinked in surprise before he chuckled. "Sam's just a really good friend." He turned back to the sink and worked on washing the dirty dishes from his efforts in baking the brownies. "I usually just get my friends some Hershey kisses or those candy heart things."

Vlad's brow furrowed as he watched the man focusing on the task before him. "But you're making brownies for me?"

Daniel glanced at him, and Vlad could his cheeks slowly turning red. "Well, yeah," he answered, rinsing the suds off the mixing bowl before he set it on the drying rack.

Vlad was smart. Top of his class even. He never struggled with his homework. But his mind seemed to grind to a halt, stuck on a problem that was impossible for him to solve, and he simply stared at Daniel for several long moments as the badger haired man tried his best to clean up the mess he made with his baking. Daniel made him brownies when he only got his friends simple sweets that could be bought from a store?

"But," Vlad said slowly, his brain still trying to find the answer on its own, "why?"

Daniel dried his hands with another towel, his blue eyes looking anywhere around the kitchen other than at Vlad. The soft pink on his cheeks grew a few shades darker. "Well, you know, um-" He worried his lower lip, struggling with whatever he wanted to say. "Since it is Valentine's Day, and you know, I like you, I thought I should make you something special." He rolled one shoulder in a shrug as even the tips of his ear started to burn with his blush.

"You could have just bought me something like with your friends," Vlad suggested dumbly because he didn't see the reason why Daniel would go through the trouble simply for him. Then the man's words really hit Vlad, and his mouth hung slightly open as his eyes widened a fraction. _I like you_. The three words repeated on a loop in Vlad's mind. But Daniel actually mean them as anything more than something like "I like you, as a friend?"

"No, I-" Daniel growled in frustration.

Vlad stood in stunned silence as Daniel stepped in close to him. Hands gently cupped the sides of his face, and Vlad wasn't sure what to do in this situation. It was too foreign for him. No one ever did something like that to him, no one ever stared into Vlad's eyes the way Daniel was doing at that moment, and most certainly no one ever tilted his head in to close the gap so that their lips touched in a soft kiss that made Vlad's heart leap into his throat as he tasted some of the chocolate batter on Daniel's lips that the man must have sampled while he was preparing the brownies. It was his first kiss with someone.

Daniel's eyes were still locked with his eyes when he pulled back, just barely as their mouths were still so close together. "I've been wanting to do that ever since New Years," he admitted, his face red with embarrassment.

"Why didn't you just do it then?" Vlad blurted out because Daniel always seemed like such an outgoing person that Vlad couldn't think of why he would restrain himself from kissing anyone.

Daniel's eyes turned slightly away from him. "I was afraid you wouldn't like me like that. I kept waiting for you to say something after I kissed you on New Years, but you never said anything. Then after that whole thing with the bully," he lowered his gaze but didn't pull any farther away from Vlad, "I thought maybe that would have scared you off."

Vlad blinked several time before snorting. "While that side of you was terrifying to witness," he admitted it once already, and even Daniel said it scared him, so Vlad wasn't embarrassed to confess it again, "it didn't stop me from still liking you." He then added, teasingly, "Little Badger." It was simply a part of Daniel that he would have to learn to live with, though he hoped he wouldn't have to see that side too often. Vlad felt Daniel smile as he pressed their mouths together for another kiss.


	12. March 1

The kiss was like drowning as his lungs burned for air, but he didn't want it to stop. Daniel's hands slid away from his face, skimming down over chest and sides to rest upon his hips and pulling him closer. His tongue nudged at Vlad's lips that parted to allow the tongue entrance into his mouth. As the tongue ran over the roof of his mouth, Vlad moaned, and a dark flush spread over his face. Daniel pulled back, giving Vlad the room to finally breathe again. The corners of his mouth twitched upward as he chuckled lightly.

"Sorry," Daniel mumbled. "I got a little carried away."

"I wasn't complaining," Vlad said, still feeling that buzz of warm thrumming through his body after the kiss. He doubted anyone would have reason to complain after being kissed like that.

Daniel grinned in response with a flicker of something in his blue eyes that only made Vlad squirm as his insides seemed to twist and knot. "But let's not get distracted with it. You still have your homework to do." He dropped his hands away from Vlad and stepped back, causing Vlad to frown with disappointment. "You might have only a few months left before graduation, but I'm not going to be the reason you let your grades take a dip because I'm distracting you too much."

"You're not!" Vlad argued, but Daniel gave him that very adult stern stare as he tilted his head slightly downward. He hunched his shoulders as he looked away, because Daniel could indeed be quite the distraction, especially with thoughts of those kisses lingering in his head. "Maybe just a little," he admitted in a mumble.

"So you go do your homework." Daniel placed his hands on Vlad's shoulders and guided him toward the exit of the kitchen. "And when you're finished, we can talk. The brownies will probably be ready by then too."

At that moment, as he climbed the stairs to head to his bedroom, Vlad almost hated that he was such a studious student. Other teenagers his age probably spent more of their time with promiscuous relationships than on their school work. But he appreciated that Daniel cared so much about his education, not wanting him to lose his focus. Education was, after all, important to Vlad. They would have plenty of time for talking, and perhaps other things, after Vlad finished with his daily homework. Rushing into something wouldn't be the wisest decision. They had established that they both had feelings for the other, and after that kiss, physical attraction was a given. Even if he didn't know a whole lot when it came to this type of relationship with someone, Vlad knew that a relationship was built on more than just physical attraction. He wanted to learn more about Daniel before they progressed to anything beyond kissing, though kissing was certainly nice.

Once he reached his room, Vlad put those thoughts away as he sat down at his desk and focused his attention on his homework. The kiss proved to be quite the distraction in beginning. Vlad would pause in the middle of answering a question or solving a problem to touch his fingers to his lips, recalling how it felt when Daniel pressed their mouths together. With a little effort, though, he was able to completely push the kiss out of his mind to focus on his homework. He had all the time he wanted to dwell on the memory of that kiss later, after he finished with what he needed to finish that night.

When the last of his homework was finished, Vlad neatly returned books and notebooks to his bag so that it would be ready for him to grab in the morning without having to waste time looking for anything that he may have forgotten. Standing up from his desk, he stretched his arms over his head as he walked toward the door of his room. It was close to the time when he and Daniel would start working on dinner, and after that, he would have the rest of the night to simply sit back and relax, which was becoming a welcomed relief with all the new things he started doing ever since he met Daniel.

Upon reaching the kitchen, Vlad found Daniel debating what to cook. The man's clothing was still a mess, but he had cleaned the flour from his hair and clothes as best as he could. The brownies sat on plate on the counter, already cut into squares, and the baking pan was scrubbed clean and set out to dry on the rack.

"What do you think?" Daniel asked when he noticed Vlad entered the kitchen. "Should we do sweet and sour chicken with some fried rice? Or would you prefer steak with mashed potatoes and some mixed vegetables?"

Vlad eyed the man skeptically. "Are you going to be making the potatoes?"

Daniel stared as a blush slowly crawled onto his cheeks. "That - That was one time!" he argued, seeming a bit flustered by that reminder. "I'm pretty sure I know how to make mashed potatoes."

"Maybe you should let me handle that part of the meal anyway." Vlad smirked as he pulled open the drawer that held the peeler.

Daniel pouted. "You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"On the bright side, it made for quite the memorable Thanksgiving." Vlad smiled, and the grumpiness eventually lifted from Daniel's face as they started to prepare their dinner.

Part of Vlad worried that things might become awkward between them after the kiss, but things remained comfortable between them, mostly. They cooked, they talked, they did various activities together during Vlad's free time, and everything felt like it was before Valentine's Day. The major difference now was that Daniel would sometimes sneak up on him, wrapping his arms around Vlad from behind and nuzzling his head into the crook of Vlad's neck, and at night, Daniel would stop Vlad before he could enter his bedroom and drop a short kiss upon his lips.

All the physical contact started out as very uncomfortable for Vlad. He wasn't entirely used to being hugged and kissed all the time. His parents would hug him, and his mother would give him kisses on the cheek or on top of his head. But it was entirely different when Daniel did it to him, and so frequently too, and it put thoughts into his head that he wasn't entirely used to having, leaving him blushing like crazy because of the nature of those thoughts. Daniel seemed to notice that Vlad wasn't quite comfortable with it yet and didn't dare go past simple things like hugging and hand holding.

"You certainly are becoming quite the violinist," Ember said with hint of approval as she stood from the couch. "I didn't have any reason to cringe this time. You're still getting a few of the notes wrong, but it's definitely an improvement from last time." She slapped a hand against Vlad's back as he lowered the violin from where it rested under his chin.

"I'm glad I didn't make your ears bleed," Vlad said dryly with a bland expression. He placed the violin carefully back into its case. Even if it was rented from a music store, he saw no reason not to treat it with care.

"Will you be staying for dinner?" Daniel questioned as he stood in the doorway to the front room with a slotted spoon in his hand. He swiped a finger over the back of it and stuck his finger into his mouth, tasting the white sauce on it.

"Nope," Ember answered, already heading for the front door. "Date night. Skulker's been complaining that I'm not spending enough time with him lately." She rolled her green eyes as she opened the door. "See you guys next lesson." She gave them a wave before departing, closing the door after her.

"It looks like it's just you and me," Daniel said with a happy smile as he headed back to the kitchen.

Vlad put the violin away where they usually kept it when he wasn't practicing. Then he followed after Daniel and frowned when he found that all the cooking was finished. "I wanted to help," he mumbled as he accepted the bowl of salad that Daniel held out for him.

"I like cooking just for you sometimes," Daniel said, earning a blush from Vlad, who mumbled something unintelligible out of embarrassment before he carried the bowl into the dining room. Three smaller bowls already sat in front of spots around the table, Daniel having set a spot for each of them before knowing that Ember wouldn't be joining them. Daniel entered the room a moment later, carrying two plates of steaming chicken Alfredo. "I hope you're hungry. I made a bit too much since I thought Ember would be staying again."

Vlad took his seat as Daniel served some of the salad into each of the bowls. Picking up his fork, he hesitated before digging into his dinner. Something circled around in his head ever since Valentine's Day, and though it really shouldn't bother him, it was something that kept nagging at his brain. Turning his head, he stared at Daniel, who was happily shoveling a forkful of the chicken Alfredo into his mouth.

"I know this isn't really any of my business," Vlad said quietly, poking at his food absently with his fork. "But how many people have you been with? I mean, you know I obviously haven't been with anyone. And I know logically that how many people you've been with shouldn't really matter, but, um, I-"

"Feel a bit jealous?" Daniel finished, tilting his head toward Vlad with that kind of smirk that made Vlad's insides do that twisty, squirmy thing. Then he shrugged and stabbed his fork through a big chunk of the chicken. "Sam and I were good friends since we were children. We hooked up when we were around eighteen. We did have sex a few times, but we were only together for about a year. We decided that we were better as just friends. Then about half a year later, I started hanging out with Dash, and one thing led to another." He scratched at a red cheek. "Um, we were together for about two years. We liked each other well enough, but it was pretty obvious that Dash had feelings for someone else."

"He liked someone other than you?" Vlad blinked in surprise, mouth hanging partway open.

"You can't help it when you fall in love." Daniel shrugged. "I think for him, it was easier to be with me because the guy he liked was his best friend and he was scared that Kwan wouldn't like him back. Or you know, wasn't gay or would hate him for being gay. I could understand that feeling too since it was kind of hard admitting that I liked Sam before we got into a relationship. Though he had it tougher with them both being guys. But after I kicked his butt and told him to just go talk to Kwan, things worked out for them."

Vlad's brow furrowed. "What about Ember? You two look pretty cozy together."

Daniel shook his head. "We met when she started teaching me to play guitar, and yeah, we did the flirting thing. She is pretty attractive after all, and we were pretty touchy with each other. There was one time when we got about this," he leaned over toward Vlad, closing the distance until their lips nearly brushed against each other and Vlad's heart skipped a beat at the thought of kissing, "close before Ember remembered that she had a boyfriend." He pulled back with a frown. "If she had told me about Skulker before, I wouldn't have flirted with her at all. I wasn't going to be the person to break up a relationship."

"So you've only had sex with two people?"

Daniel nodded. "And it wasn't like we were sex crazy fiends that did it every night. I mean, we had school to worry about, so there were plenty of times when we didn't even see each other for more than a few minutes every day, sometimes only a few minutes every week. There were lots of times when we just spent the night hanging out watching ridiculously stupid movies until we passed out at two in the morning. So if you're worried at all about things progressing too quickly in that direction before you're ready, I'll tell you right now that I'm not looking to jump straight into bed with you. Maybe, at some point," he grinned, and Vlad dropped his gaze as his blush extended to his ears, "but not this soon into a relationship. We should explore our feelings more before taking our relationship to that next level."

"That's not - I wasn't-" Vlad fought the blush upon his face. He couldn't really deny it since he _did_ have dreams and thoughts about what it might be like to have sex with Daniel. He was, after all, a teenager with hormones, even if they didn't have much reason to kick in until he started to realize his feelings for Daniel. "I was just wondering, and I guess, well, you've been with people. You have experience." He lifted his gaze to glance at Daniel. "What if when we do it, you're disappointed with me?"

"First off, I would like to point out that the first time I had sex with Sam, she couldn't stop laughing when I fumbled my way around. Second, the first time I had sex with Dash, it wasn't exactly pleasant. So I'm not expecting you to be some master of sexual activities the first time you have sex," Daniel said, and Vlad wasn't sure if that made him feel better or not. "And sex isn't all a relationship is. I didn't start liking you because I looked at you and thought, 'yup, I'm going to tap that ass one day.'" A grin tugged at Daniel's mouth when Vlad blushed again. "I started liking you because I enjoyed spending time with you and how smart you are, and I wanted to spend more time with you and know more about the things you like and dislike. That," he chuckled awkwardly, "might be why I was so insistent about dragging you around to do different things. You didn't seem to have any interests outside of homework, so I thought if I took you around to experience a variety of things, I might get the chance to learn what you _do_ like."

Vlad felt a bit flustered after listening to Daniel because his comments about wanting to know more about him was exactly how he felt toward Daniel. The physical attraction was there, yes, but Vlad was happy that Daniel didn't like him solely for that reason. "I want to know more about you too," he admitted, glancing toward the other man.

"You can always ask." Daniel leaned over, stealing a quick kiss. "You're cute when you're all shy about something."


	13. March 24

Vlad pulled out his math textbook from his locker and frowned when an envelope was suddenly thrust before his face. The soft pink envelope with his name neatly written upon it in calligraphy was an unusual appearance for him. Blinking, Vlad followed the hand with the nails painted bright pink with the tips white down the pale skinned arm up to the shoulder than to the woman's face. She stared back at him with dark brown eyes, almost impatiently as she waited for him to take the envelope from her hand.

"What is this?" Vlad questioned as his brow wrinkled, not understanding why this woman, the most popular girl in the school, was presenting him with an envelope.

She rolled her eyes and waved her arm, practically shoving the envelope into his face. "It's an invitation to my birthday party tomorrow. Duh!"

Vlad hesitantly took the envelope from her, still puzzled by its presence before him. "But," he lifted an eyebrow as he stared at her, "why am I getting one?" He never got invited to parties, or anything at all, by the other students. Things at school had gotten a lot better ever since that Daniel stopped by and stood up to Jared. It still felt strange to interact with his classmates after being an outcast for most of his high school career. He got into a debate last week with one of the jocks that kept saying that the Bears were better than the Packers. At the end of it, Thomas laughed and patted Vlad on the back saying that he was "all right."

"Hurry up, Olivia!" called one of the other women heading down the hall. "We're going to be late."

"I'll be right there," Olivia snapped, shooting an annoyed look toward her friend. When she turn back to Vlad, she put on as friendly a smile as she could manage, flipping some of her blonde hair back over her shoulder. "Obviously because I want you there. And," she smiled a bit more encouragingly, "if say you wanted to bring that college friend of yours, that would be totally cool. I gotta head to class now." She waved, wiggling her fingers, before she turned to hurry after her friends.

Vlad frowned, half tempted to yell at her that Daniel was already taken, but instead he shoved the invitation into his locker where it would probably go forgotten until it came time to clean out his locker at the end of the year. He wasn't interested in going to a party. While he might have more people to talk with now, he still believed that parties were for the large part not fun to him. And if, like she seemed to be implying, Olivia was only inviting him due to some interest in Daniel, then Vlad was even less interested in going to a party where he was only wanted by extension of whom he knew.

That was the problem, he realized as he headed for his next class. It didn't hold true for all the women at his school, but plenty of the ones that approached him still asked him about Daniel. Perhaps it only seemed like it was most of the women because they stuck out in his mind, inciting anger and jealousy in him because he didn't want any of them knowing anything about _his_ Daniel. Vlad sighed tiredly, shaking his head. He shouldn't be that possessive of Daniel. The man was no object that was Vlad's to own. He wouldn't stop Daniel from hanging out with people and having fun with them if that's what the man wanted to do, but he also couldn't squash that rise of jealousy whenever he saw Daniel being so friendly with other people.

"I'm not interested in anyone else," Daniel told him the other day after he noticed Vlad's grumpiness to the presence of another woman hanging around the badger haired man. How could Vlad not be jealous of the woman when she was beautiful and curvy and just looked like she could draw the eye of any man she passed and wrap him around her little finger?

"Besides," added the woman, who Vlad learned was named Paulina, "I'm not interested in Danny in any sort of romantic way. I'm just using him as a model." Her mouth pursed in frustration as her emerald eyes narrowed at nothing in particular. "Dash and Kwan never want to help out." She puffed out her chest as she wore an angry glowering expression. "They're too macho manly for something like modeling." Her eyes rolled toward the ceiling.

"I've told you about Ember," Daniel said then yelped when Paulina accidentally stabbed him with a needle. She winced as she apologized. "I was disgusted with myself for potentially ruining their relationship. And I don't believe in dating more than one person at once. I like you." He met Vlad's gaze with a serious look in his own blue eyes. "You're the only one I want to be with. Everyone else, I only see them as friends."

It was difficult not to worry though when Daniel had a personality that could draw people to him. Vlad may not have liked the man much when they first met, but slowly, over the months, he grew to like the man. Daniel simply had a way of making people open up, even someone as deep into his shell as Vlad was. These feelings of jealousy and possessiveness were all too new and unfamiliar for Vlad, and he didn't quite like them. But he guessed it was like Daniel with that scary side of him. These were feelings that he couldn't deny as a part of him, but he didn't have to let them rule over him, because he certainly didn't want to suffocate Daniel by possessively keeping the man all to himself.

After school, Vlad had already forgotten about his encounter with Olivia and the invitation in his locker. He put his focus into his schoolwork, paying full attention to his teachers and taking detailed notes from lectures. It became easier as time went on after Valentine's Day for him to compartmentalize his mind. When he was in school or working on homework or studying for tests, Vlad carefully tucked away all this thoughts about Daniel so that the man wouldn't distract him from his education.

Vlad entered his home, already calculating how much time it would take to finish all of the homework he would have over the weekend so that he could finish it quickly and have the rest of his time to spend doing things with Daniel. After closing the front door, he started toward the stairs when voices made him stop.

"Does Aunt Alicia know you're here?" Daniel demanded, sounding none too happy to whomever he spoke.

"Relax, Danny," a woman responded as she completely ignored the question.

Vlad guessed that she was younger than Daniel but still older than he was. Creeping over to the doorway to the front room, he peeked in to see with whom Daniel was having this conversation. When he glanced into the room, he saw Daniel standing in front of the couch with his arms folded as he glowered down at the woman relaxing on the couch. She had a lot of similarities in appearance to Daniel from the same dark hair to her bright blue eyes.

"Relax?" Daniel snapped, fury seeping into his voice despite his attempts to restrain it. "Elle, you show up here out of the blue. Which by the way, how did you even know where to find me?"

"Uh, Jazz, duh!" Elle rolled her eyes at him. "You _did_ put a return address on the package you sent her for Christmas. When I talked to her recently, she told me where you were staying, so I thought I would drop by." She grinned up at him, but the man didn't look at all amused by her story.

"And how did you get here?" Daniel's mouth thinned as his eyes narrowed, looking her over with suspicion. "If Aunt Alicia doesn't know you're here, does that mean you stole the money to get here?"

"That - That's not any of your business!" Elle snapped her head around and folded her arms, looking like a spoiled brat that got caught red handed doing something wrong.

"Elle," Daniel growled, "you can't just steal money and take a joyride around the country."

Elle jumped to her feet, drawing herself up to her full height, which was still several inches shorter than Daniel. "I'm twenty-one, Danny." She jabbed a finger into his chest as she glared at him. "It's not going to be that much longer before I have to 'grow up and join the real world.' So excuse me if I want to take some time off and enjoy what's left of my life before I have be a stick in the mud adult. You used to be a lot more fun."

"No, trust me, I wasn't," Daniel responded flatly. He sighed as he rested his hands on her shoulders. "I'm trying to look out for you here, Elle. I don't want you making any mistakes like I did."

Elle slapped the hands away from her shoulders. "I'm not stupid, and I'm not going to be stupid like you."

Vlad quickly pressed himself flat against the wall next to the doorway as the woman stormed toward the hall.

"If you're just going to lecture me, I'll go find someone else to hang out with." Elle stomped toward the front door, not giving Vlad even a second of attention as she yanked the door open. "Someone fun!" she shouted before slamming the door shut after her.

Maybe that wasn't a conversation that he should have listened in on, Vlad thought with a cringe after the loud bang of the door.

"Elle!" Daniel shouted as he followed after her, rushing into the front hall. But he halted when he noticed Vlad standing there. His blue eyes grew wide with a hint of panic entering them. "Vlad," he mumbled in his surprise. "Uh, you didn't... hear all of that-" His head snapped toward the front door when he heard the revving engine of a motorcycle. Quickly, he patted himself down, checking his pockets, and he growled when he came up empty. "That little pickpocket! She took the keys to my motorcycle!"

Vlad reached into his pocket and retrieved the keys to his car. Daniel grabbed at them the moment Vlad raised them up between them, but Vlad refused to release his hold on the keys. "I'll drive. Thank you."

"Vlad, there's only one person that she'll go to right now, and I know a short cut and it'll go faster if I drive." Daniel glared at Vlad with a desperation in his eyes. The man was really worried about this Elle woman.

With a sigh, Vlad relinquished his hold on the keys. "But I'm going with you." He followed Daniel out of the mansion and toward his car parked out front.

As soon as Vlad closed the door, Daniel peeled away from the mansion with a squeal of the wheels. Vlad grabbed at the seat belt and quickly snapped it into place as he sent a worried glance toward Daniel. Fear trickled through him, but it wasn't the same as when Daniel stood up to Jared for bullying. The man's brow furrowed, and his jaw set tightly in his concentration to reach their destination swiftly.

"Who was that woman?" Vlad asked tentatively, licking his lips in nervousness.

Daniel's gaze darted in his direction, and some of the tension melted from his shoulders. "My cousin Elle," he answered with a tired sigh. "My aunt has been raising her alone ever since her divorce ten years ago, and Elle hasn't exactly been a sweet little angel."

"You don't talk a lot about your family." Vlad eyed the man, waiting anxiously to learn more about Daniel's family or maybe hear something about what Daniel was like as a child. But he didn't get any of the answers he was looking for as the man kept his mouth tightly shut. Vlad frowned as he lowered his gaze to his hands resting on his knees. Perhaps he shouldn't have mentioned anything about Daniel's family. Was that a sore topic for the man? He remember the conversation he overheard on Christmas. Daniel apparently didn't speak to his parents anymore. What could have happened there? Vlad wanted to ask, wanted to know more about Daniel, but he was scared to venture into taboo topics with the man.

"We're here," Daniel announced, interrupting Vlad's deep contemplation as he parked the car outside an apartment building. He was out of the car in an instant, and Vlad hurried to keep up with him. They jogged up the stairs of the building, which apparently didn't bother to put in an elevator for its tenants. By the time they reached the ninth floor, Vlad was wishing he was a little more athletic. He was breathing a bit heavier while Daniel barely seemed to have suffered from the fast pace of running up so many steps.

"Hey, how's my favorite-"

Vlad recognized the voice as belonging to Valerie from the occasions when the woman paid a visit to Daniel at the mansion. Elle had beaten them to the woman's apartment and now stood with her head bowed and slightly turned away before the taller woman. Valerie's expression quickly shifted from happily surprised to a severe frown as she took in the appearance of the younger woman. Elle's ebony hair was tied back in a low ponytail, which allowed everyone to see the bruising upon her neck that Vlad failed to notice earlier while his mind focused more on Daniel than his cousin. Her hands, before they disappeared under her arms when she folded them, were bloodied and bruised.

"Who did it to you?" Valerie placed her hands on her hips as her green eyes narrowed at the woman in an expression that read she clearly wasn't letting the woman's battered appearance slide without answers.

"That's what I was wondering when she showed up out of the blue looking like that," Daniel said, frowning just as severely as Valerie.

"It doesn't matter," Elle snapped, shooting a glare at her cousin, and that was when Vlad saw the nasty black eye that she sported. "I kicked his ass so it's fine."

"It's _not_ fine, Elle," Daniel said sternly, and they both stubbornly glared at each other.

"Elle," Valerie said gently, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder as concern showed in her green eyes. "I know you can handle yourself in a fight. You're strong and fast. But what if that guy had friends? What if he lured you into a trap where five or six other guys were waiting to get the jump on you? Danny's just concerned about your safety. I am too."

Elle frowned as she met Valerie's gaze. Then she lowered her head, hugging her arms around her body. "He kept making fun of me. He treated me like I was an idiot. Kept asking stupid things like if I was going to marry my brother, even though I don't have one, or if my parents were cousins because apparently living in such a 'backwater' area of Arkansas, we _must_ be inbreeding." She rolled her eyes with a dark scowl on her face. "So I decked him. You'd think after all his jokes about me 'tangling with bears' that he might actually stop to think I might actually know a thing or two about fighting, but no, he was a complete idiot. He might have gotten a few good hits in, but I left him a lot worse off." She smirked smugly at her triumph in the fight.

"And you thought stealing money from Aunt Alicia and taking a trip out here was the wisest move?" Daniel frowned, showing his disapproval over his cousin's actions. "What about school? You can't just skip classes because you got into a fight."

Elle groaned in frustration. "I don't even want to _be_ a doctor."

"I know Aunt Alicia has always kind of encouraged you to pursue that as a career," Daniel frowned as he stared at his pouting cousin, "but I'm sure she'll understand if you tell her that's not what you want to do with your life."

"But Mom has always been pushing me toward being a doctor," Elle complained. "I just - I feel so stuck! I don't want to be a doctor, but Mom's going to be so disappointed if I drop out of working toward med school. Why can't I be more like you, Danny? Why can't I be free to choose my own life?"

Valerie wrapped an arm around the younger woman, drawing her closer in a one armed hug. "Your mom loves you. I'm sure she'll be happy with whatever choice you decide to make, but you should really talk to her about it instead of running away from it. Running away doesn't solve anything. Have you even considered what you want to do with your life? What kind of career are you interested in?"

"I - I haven't really thought about it." Elle frowned, looking rather miserable. "I only really realized how much I hated the idea of being a doctor recently. But," her brow knitted in thought, "I really want to do something meaningful. Like help people somehow, you know?" She glanced toward Valerie, like she was seeking guidance from the older woman. "Maybe helping out children who have no families."

"That's a start!" Valerie squeezed her arm around the woman. "Maybe we can talk to the career counselor at our college on Monday and she'll help you figure out what the right path is for you."

Elle nodded. "I think I like that idea." She turned toward Daniel with a hesitant look in her blue eyes. "Do you mind if I stay with Valerie while I'm here?"

Daniel shook his head. "You probably would have spent the whole time with her anyway." He smiled as he reached out to ruffle her hair. "I'm just glad you told us what was going on." His concern for her still lingered in his eyes. "You can borrow my motorcycle, but don't forget to return it to me before you leave." He gave her that stern look that meant he wasn't kidding around about it.

"Yeah, yeah." Elle rolled her eyes at him.

"Call Aunt Alicia right away."

"I get it, Danny." Elle huffed a sigh of exasperation.

Daniel tugged her free from Valerie's hold and gave the woman a hug. "Love you, Cuz."

"Love you too." Elle hugged him tightly before the pair parted. Then she glanced at Vlad and smirked. "Don't let this idiot do anything stupid." She tugged at Daniel's ear, making him wince.

"Hey!" Daniel protected with a frown. "I'm not an idiot." His mouth pursed even more as Elle gave him an "oh really?" look. "Not all the time anyway," he muttered, turning his head away as he folded his arms.

"Okay, okay. Enough teasing him." Valerie chuckled at Daniel's pouting. "I've got movies and popcorn."

"Yes!" Elle cheered as Valerie grinned. "I haven't had a nice relaxing movie night in ages."

"We'll see you later." Daniel waved as the two women disappeared into the apartment. "Uh, sorry to drag you into all of that," he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly once they were alone in the hall. "I just-"

"Wanted to make sure your cousin would be all right and wouldn't do anything stupid?" Vlad finished with a small smirk tugging at his mouth.

"Yeah." Daniel laughed then sighed as he stared at the closed door. "She hasn't exactly had it easy with stupid people making the wrong assumption based on where she grew up and feeling pressured into pursuing a career she doesn't care for. I didn't realize how much all of that was stressing her out." He frowned, his eyes dimming a touch.

"She isn't a helpless child though," Vlad pointed out as they started walking back down the stairs. "You can't be expected to watch over her at all times to ensure that no harm comes to her. You'd just be smothering her if you did. And you were there and concerned for her when she finally did come to you for help."

Daniel suddenly grabbed him, hugging him close. "That's what I love about you. You're some smart and sensible about things." He laughed awkwardly as he released Vlad, who ducked his head, blushing at the comment. "Thanks. Sometimes I-" He shook his head. "Just thanks." He smiled as they stepped out of the building. Vlad wondered what Daniel was going to say, but the man let it drop, forgotten like he never started to say anything at all.


	14. April 6

When they showed up the next day, Elle looked miserably exhausted. After Vlad and Daniel left Valerie's apartment, Elle called her mother to tell her about everything that happened. Her mother was furious to learn about the fight and Elle ditching school to hanging out with Daniel and Valerie. That ranting lecture went on for two or three hours according to the two women, and even Valerie had a drained look on her face by simply remembering the phone call. But in the end, her mother was happy that Elle actually talked to her about what she was feeling and that she was already thinking of a new career choice, even if she was a little disappointed that Elle wouldn't be pursuing a career as a doctor.

"By the time we got off the phone with her, we felt so tired that we barely made it through one movie before passing out on the couch," Elle said, dropping onto the couch in the front room. Her hands were covered with Band-Aids, and she wore a turtleneck, slightly too big on her, to hide the bruising around her throat. Her eye still looked pretty bad with dark, ugly bruising around it, though it looked like some of the swelling went down since yesterday.

"On Monday, we'll worry about the whole career thing," Valerie said as she took a seat on the armrest nearest Elle. "For the weekend though, I say we do something fun. I could use a distraction after cramming all those facts and figures into my brain all week. I swear one more night with my head in a book, and I might finally crack."

After some discussion, they decided to hit the nearest Cineplex to catch a movie. Vlad never bothered to keep up with the latest movies coming out, so he left the decision making on that one to the other three. Valerie and Daniel butted heads over whether to see the latest martial arts movie like Valerie wanted or the newest installment of a horror movie series that Daniel liked. Elle rolled her blue eyes at the pair, side whispering to Vlad that the of them were always like that when it came to movies. While Valerie and Daniel were distracted arguing over which movie to see, Elle sneaked up to the ticket booth and got four tickets to see a new romance flick that had the other two groaning when she handed them the tickets.

The movie was horribly cheesy, but by the end of it, Vlad was struggling not to burst out laughing and disturb the others in the theater. Throughout the whole movie, he kept catching whispers from the other three as they made joking comments about what was happening or whispering the lines to each other in horribly overly dramatic fashion that was far more entertaining to watch than the movie itself.

It occurred to Vlad as they were leaving the theater, the other three struck with fits of laughter that brought tears to their eyes, that Elle picked the romance movie specifically for the laughs they would have while watching it. Valerie even threw an arm around Elle's shoulder as she said, "Man, that's what I really needed!" Though romance movies weren't his thing, Vlad was inclined to agree with Valerie. The subject of the movie didn't matter, it could have been the worst movie ever created, but the amusement factor of watching it with other people made it enjoyable.

But ever since that weekend with Elle, Vlad couldn't stop thinking about how to broach the topic of family and his past with Daniel. He let slip some things about his own childhood, like the time his parents took him horseback riding one summer. He didn't much care for it, and the fact that he fell off when the horse suddenly broke into a fast run didn't help his opinion. He still had a faint scar right near his hairline from when his head hit the ground in the fall. Daniel spent several moments inspecting the spot that Vlad pointed out before he planted a kiss right where the scar was, resulting in a furious blush from the younger man. Later on, Vlad purposely left an open photo album out on the table where Daniel would spot it. After he finished all of his homework that night, Vlad found Daniel sitting on the couch as he flipped through it. The rest of the night was spent with Vlad explaining what was happening in different pictures and Daniel gushing over how adorable Vlad was when he was younger.

But nothing seemed to encourage Daniel to say anything about his own past.

Vlad sighed tiredly as he put away his books after spending an extra hour studying. Maybe his best option was to ask Daniel directly about his past, but he was still worried that it might upset the man. Daniel seemed to stubbornly avoid talking about his childhood and his family. Would the man snap at him if he started asking questions? But it seemed unfair that Vlad put his past out there like an open book for the man to read while Daniel kept everything about him locked up as tight as that secret box tucked away under his bed.

Leaving his bedroom, Vlad headed downstairs since it was getting close to the time when they would start on dinner. He hit the bottom of the stairs and turned to head for the kitchen, but he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head, Vlad stared at the badger haired man sitting in one of the chairs in the front room. Daniel had his long legs hanging over one armrest as he held a book open in one hand and wrote down notes with his other hand in a notebook that rested against his thighs. But what caught Vlad most about the man currently were the glasses that he wore. It was the first time ever seeing them on the man, but it was also his first time ever seeing Daniel doing any kind of studying for his own classes.

Stepping into the room, Vlad opened his mouth to get the man's attention when something else distracted him. His dark blue eyes fell upon an item sitting on the coffee table at the end closest to Daniel. It was the box made of sleekly polished wood with the leaves carved onto the lid, the very box that constantly presented questions in Vlad's mind ever since he discovered its existence under Daniel's bed.

And the lid was open!

It wasn't opened enough for him to see what lay within the box. The lid sat slightly ajar, revealing only a tiny sliver of darkness from where Vlad stood only steps into the front room. An itch made his fingers twitch at his sides. So close! The box was so close! He only had to cross over to the table and grab it before Daniel could stop him and he would finally have his answers. His gaze tore away from the box and lifted toward Daniel. He doubted the man would appreciate it if he did something like that, and he really didn't want to anger the man.

Vlad walked over toward the couch and sat down on the end nearest to the chair that Daniel occupied. His gaze turned to the tempting box that he almost felt was mocking him with that tiny glimpse of what lay under the lid. His hands curled tightly around the cushion under him as he restrained the urge to simply yank the lid all the way off so he could see what was under it.

"Oh man!" Daniel fumbled in his attempt to sit up straight without dropping his things on the floor. He turned his head to glance at the clock. "I didn't realize how late it got." When he looked toward Vlad, he smiled as he set his book and notebook down on the table, right next to the box. "Shall we get started on dinner?" He stood up but paused when he realized that Vlad didn't move to follow him.

"Why do you never talk about yourself?" Vlad frowned as he stared up at Daniel. "You avoid the subject whenever family or childhood comes up." He searched the man's blue eyes like he might be able to find some answers there. "You're fine when you're talking about Elle, but you never say anything about yourself. I want to get to know more about you, but I can't do that when you refuse to open up to me about yourself." His hands squeezed even tighter around the cushion as he pushed himself to speak. It wasn't always easy for him to express himself and his wants when it came to Daniel. He was used to figuring out answers on his own, but asking for answers, that was difficult. He wanted to ask about the box, felt a need to know what was in it, but Daniel would want to know how he even knew about the box before today. Vlad bit his lower lip. Would Daniel tell him anything, about his past, about the box?

His mouth thinned as Daniel returned to sitting in the chair. His blue eyes looked a touch darker than usual. "I guess it's only fair that I tell you about what happened," he said, his voice losing the normal cheer, making Vlad worry that whatever the man would say was something he would regret learning. Daniel leaned against an armrest as he scratched behind an ear, frowning and refusing to glance Vlad's way. "I always wanted to be astronaut, though I guess that's not really all that shocking." He laughed awkwardly.

"Well, you do know an awful lot about space," Vlad agreed, the corners of his mouth twitching somewhat into a smile, but worry and fear built into a tight knot in his chest.

Daniel glanced his way with a small smile before he dropped his gaze and the frown returned. Vlad grew nervous, really hating that look on the man's face. He wanted to take it back, tell the man he didn't have to tell him anything if only it would bring the smile back to the man's face, but he wanted to learn more about the man.

"My parents are, well-" Daniel sighed as he leaned back in the chair, looking for a moment like he would clam up and leave everything about himself a mystery. "My parents believe in ghosts. Ever since college, they've been researching into paranormal activities and trying to actually find and capture a ghost to study. They're pretty much considered the nut jobs of my hometown. Lots of the other kids my age would keep away from me because of my parents. It was pretty lonely really. Until second grade when Sam, first of all, didn't give two shits about how her parents would tell her to keep away from the crazy people's son. She actually found the whole ghost hunter thing cool. Tucker was always into tech stuff, and that became a source of bullying for him so we were kind of brothers as outcasts from the popular kids. It was great with them. They were a second family to me."

"I'm sensing there's a but coming up." Vlad watched the man, not missing the misery in his eyes as he stared at the ground. Whatever thoughts Daniel had running through his head couldn't be happy ones.

"They were teased for being different, for not fitting in, but they didn't understand what I was going through. The level of harassment I received was on a totally different level from the bullying they got." Daniel reached up and raked a hand through his badger hair. "When we were in grade school, it was better. They would mark up my stuff and push me around, steal my stuff and hide it. There were plenty of times during gym when they would take my regular clothes and stick them in the toilet so that I had to spend the rest of the day in my gym clothes. Every day I dreaded going to school because while I loved hanging out with Tucker and Sam, I knew the day would be miserable because of what everyone else would do to me.

"Toward the end of grade school and especially after we entered high school, everything just got worse. That was when bullies decided to take things a bit more physical. Dash used to be one of those bullies, though Kwan always tried to convince him that it wasn't worth it. Dash would only rough me up a bit, call me names, stuff me into lockers. With him, it only felt like the usual bullying that happens during high school." Daniel shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "Dash had his own problems at home, and his way of dealing with it came out in the wrong way. It doesn't justify his actions, but I learned to look past it and forgive him when we met up again at college and he apologized for being a dick to me. But a lot of the other people at my school were really bad. Every day when I came home, I had to find ways of hiding all my bruises from my family. I didn't want them getting worried about me. I knew they cared, but I knew if they tried to do anything, it would just make things worse for me."

Vlad's heart hurt listening to Daniel talk about being bullied. The man was always such a cheerful bundle of joy, always friendly with everyone he met, that it was hard to imagine anyone hating him and bullying him.

"There's only so much shit a person can take before they finally snap," Daniel continued, shifting uncomfortably in the chair. "I was sixteen, and it was a particularly bad day for me. Some of the football jocks, Dash and Kwan excluded, decided to gang up on me for a little round of beat the shit out of the loser freak after school. By the time they were finished, I was pretty banged up. Bruises everywhere, blood oozing from nose, one eye swelling shut, busted lip. I'm still surprised they didn't break any bones, but they came pretty damn close. It was pretty impossible to hide the damage this time, and I just didn't care anymore. I'd had enough. I was sick of it all. Why should I have to suffer like that? I was pretty well convinced that the whole reason the teachers ignored what was going on was because of my parents. Everyone in town wanted to avoid the Fentons." He rolled his blue eyes then sneered in disgust. His hands curled into such tight fists that his knuckles turned white.

"I was furious when I got home, and my parents were all happy and ready to blather on about their latest invention to help them catch ghosts." Daniel's jaw set painfully tight, and Vlad could tell the man was still bitter over what happened in his past. "They cared, of course. I never had any doubts about my parents loving me. They were all concerned when they saw me and asked about a thousand questions and wanted to drag me to the hospital in case any of the injuries were serious. But at that moment, I was just-" He shook his head. "I wasn't thinking. I was too fueled with my rage about everything. I kept thinking I was alone in what I went through. How could anyone understand the level of harassment I suffered? I lashed out at them. It was dumb, but I couldn't stop myself from screaming at them. It was their fault, I believed. If they weren't ghost hunters. If they didn't put a target on my back as the son of the town crazies. If, if, if! There were so many reasons for why I was angry about things. It slipped out. I didn't really mean it. People say things they don't mean all the time when they're angry. That's not really a good excuse. I know. But once you say something, it's hard to take it back."

"What did you say?" Vlad asked hesitantly when Daniel fell silent.

"I told them I wished they weren't my parents," Daniel mumbled in a quiet voice, a hollow voice that left Vlad feeling cold inside.

"But you didn't mean it," Vlad said quickly, trying to scramble for something to say to make the man feel better. "They knew you didn't mean it."

"Maybe they did," Daniel agreed in that same quiet, empty voice that Vlad decided he really, _really_ hated. "But like I said, once you say it, you can't take it back. I can still remember the look on their faces right I said it. My mom looked so sad, and my dad," Daniel leaned forward, burying his face in his hands, "he looked so hurt, like I had just stabbed in the back. I never meant to hurt them like that, but it was too late to say I didn't mean it. My dad was furious. He told me to get out. Get out and don't ever bother coming back home. That hurt worse than anything the bullies ever said or did to me." His fingers dug into his hair, twisting around locks of raven and white. "We were both so angry at that point. I stormed up to my room and grabbed what few things I could and then I just... left."

"You left?" Vlad gawked in shock. He understood the situation was bad. How did their relationship of father and son recover after a blow like that? But he wanted to hear some magical happy ending, like in a book, where they reconciled and everything went back to normal between them and their bond was stronger than ever. But that clearly didn't happen if Daniel still wasn't talking to his parents. "What did you do after that?"

"Nothing good," Daniel admitted, keeping his head down and hands buried in his hair. "I didn't have a lot of money, and there weren't a lot of places that would hire a sixteen year old. Sam and Tucker wanted to help me as best they could, and my sister Jazz never stopped reaching out to me, even if I told her to stop. She kept trying to convince me that we could work everything out if I just came back home, but I didn't think it would ever be possible after what was said. They gave me food and money whenever they could. Sam and Tucker always offered me a room to stay in, but I never wanted to burden them. I didn't go back to school either. Why would I want to go back to all that bullying when that's what landed me in that situation in the first place?" He heaved a sigh as he sat back and closed his eyes. "I was on the street for a little over a year and a half. I got into a lot of fights during that time. I did some stuff I'm really not proud of in order to survive. It was a really dark time in my life, and I'm surprised Tucker and Sam didn't abandon me because of how scary I got. I really hated myself. I hated what I became because of that rage I couldn't seem to let go of. But eventually Tucker and Sam managed to get through to me. Sam convinced me to take that GED thing since I didn't complete high school, and she and Tucker both helped me study for it. It took me a long, _long_ time to really recover. I think that's why things didn't work out between Sam and me. I was still trying to move on from everything that happened, to put away my anger, and being in a relationship at that time really didn't help things. I never want to go back to being that person, though as you saw before, that side of me still exists."

"I'm sorry," Vlad said, not knowing what else he could really say to make the man feel better about his past. "I wish you didn't have to go through that." He scooted as far as he could on the couch to put himself closer to the man. "Maybe you could call them," he suggested hesitantly. "It's been several years now. Maybe they'll forgive you and welcome you back."

Daniel stared at Vlad, his tired expression making him look even older than he really was. "I wish they would. But I can't shake the fear that they'll never forgive me and welcome me back as their son."

Vlad really couldn't find the words to say that might comfort the man. What _could_ he say? He wasn't a genius when it came to emotions and being sympathetic and saying the right things that make people feel better when they were feeling down. Climbing to his feet, he crossed the small distance between where they sat and crawled into the Daniel's lap, wrapping his arms around man's neck and hugging him tightly. Daniel remained still for a moment. Then he returned the hug, burying his face against Vlad's neck, and Vlad swore he felt tears on his neck and dampening his shirt.


	15. April 22

After some time, Daniel pulled away from Vlad, wiping his face clean with the back of his hand as he apologized for breaking down like that. It was Vlad's turn to reach out and ruffle the man's hair. He told Daniel that he had no reason to apologize. Daniel had a troubled past, and after all the thoughts that danced through his mind, Vlad never expected to hear that tale. He felt sorry for Daniel and wished there was something he could do to help the man reconcile with his parents. But what could he do? If he tried to reach out to Daniel's parents, Vlad could end up making the situation worse or upsetting and angering Daniel. He didn't want that, but he hated that Daniel was still hurting over the argument with his parents.

"I don't know about you, but I think ice cream would be good right about now," Daniel said, putting on a smile. It was a bit forced; Vlad could tell by how it didn't come as easily to the man, and it failed to reach his bright blue eyes. He pushed Vlad off his lap, and they both climbed to their feet.

Ice cream didn't make a good dinner, but Vlad didn't argue. After that big reveal about his past, Vlad would let Daniel eat an entire three tier cake if that was what he felt like doing at the moment. Thinking about it though, that would probably end with the man feeling rather sick from eating so much cake all at once. When they reached the kitchen, Daniel dug around inside the freezer until he brought out the tub of rocky road ice cream. Vlad started to grab some bowls for them, but Daniel stopped him, simply grabbing two spoons and handing one over to Vlad.

"Live a little," Daniel encouraged him with a teasing smile when Vlad stared skeptically at the spoon presented before him. Vlad didn't eat directly out of the tub. It simply wasn't proper. But as Daniel continued to wave the spoon before his face with that smile on his face, Vlad caved and snatched the spoon out of the man's hand. "So," Daniel said, tearing the lid from the tub so that they could start eating, "anything else you want to know?" His eyebrows lifted curiously as he raised a spoonful of ice cream to his mouth.

Vlad considered, his dark blue eyes drifting toward the door of the kitchen. Daniel did just drop a bombshell of information on him about his past and family, but Vlad remained curious about the contents of the box. What could be so important to the man that he kept it locked up so tightly? Vlad couldn't think of any answers after what he just heard. Perhaps he should save the box for another day. But what if he didn't get the opportunity again? The box was sitting out in the open, after all. It was the best time to ask about it without being overly suspicious of his previous endeavors to uncover the secrets that it held.

"That was an interesting looking box you had out," Vlad said, trying not to sound overly curious about it. He glanced toward Daniel as he stuck the spoonful into his mouth.

Daniel blinked then chuckle. "The box? That's what caught your eye?" Amusement sparkled in his eyes as he picked up the tub of ice cream.

Daniel headed back into the front room, and Vlad followed after him, his heart beating a touch faster as he bit his lip with nervous excitement. Once they were sitting on the couch, all settled with the tub of ice cream in front of them on the coffee table, Daniel brought the box over, setting it in his lap.

"It's nothing very exciting really," Daniel admitted with an embarrassed blush as he slid the lid off and set it on the coffee table. "It's just some little things that I didn't want to lose." He picked up the first item, which was a worn looking notebook with some pages sticking out the sides that he tucked under one thigh. "Bearbert's nose." He chuckled as he held up the ratty bulbous brown nose with only a bit of the gray mustache still attached to it. "When I was seven, I was a bit of a brat and kind of destroyed my sister's favorite stuffed toy. It seems kind of silly to have kept it, but I wanted it as a reminder because I wanted to make it up to my sister by finding a new Bearbert for her."

"That's why you were so excited when you found one," Vlad realized, understanding better about Daniel shouting out "Bearbert lives!" in the middle of the toy store.

Daniel nodded, a smile pulling across his face. "It was the first one I'd seen. Jazz is twenty-five now, totally outgrown the whole stuffed toy thing, but I still wanted her to have it. An apology for me being such a brat." He set the nose on the coffee table and reached for the next item. Items, really, Vlad realized as Daniel held a handful of scraps. "Uh, this was a model rocket that I built." He frowned sadly as he dropped the pieces next to the nose. "It didn't exactly survive my time on the streets, and that was about all that I could find after the fight. And this," he grabbed a sheet of paper and held it up for Vlad to see as he wore a proud grin, "is my certificate from when I went to space camp."

"It doesn't look like it survived the streets all that well either," Vlad mumbled, noting that the certificate had been ripped up and taped back together. Some spots were missing completely, and it had dirty stains all over it.

"Ah, that happened right after I left," Daniel explained, frowning as he added the certificate to the table. "In a fit of anger, I ripped it up, knowing I was never going to be an astronaut at that point. But I kept as much of it as I could anyway, and eventually taped it up again." His expression turned sad as he stared at what remained in the box. He didn't say anything for moment, making Vlad start to worry.

Then Daniel held out the final item in the box for Vlad to see. It was a picture, a really old photograph from more than a decade ago, showing a happy family. Daniel was easily recognized, and he was adorable as a little nine year old. Next to him was an auburn haired girl that Vlad guessed was his sister Jazz. Behind the two children stood two adults, Daniel's parents, wearing jumpsuits. They all looked so happy in the picture, a perfect little family in a time before that happiness shattered. Vlad wasn't blind to the spots on it stained from tears and blood.

"It's the only picture I have from my family," Daniel said as he took it back from Vlad and stared at it. "After leaving, I spent so many nights just staring at it and crying until I finally fell asleep. It's really important to me. I always feared that I would eventually forget what my family even looks like."

"Do-" Vlad hesitated, seeing the sadness on Daniel's face. "Do you think you'll ever try to reach out to them? I'm sure they miss you as much as you miss them."

Daniel's brow wrinkled as he turned his gaze onto Vlad. "As much as I would love to see my parents again, I'm just really scared. I know that must seem silly. I'm an adult, but I'm scared of meeting my parents again."

Vlad shook his head. "You both hurt each other with your words. I bet your parents are feeling the same. They probably fear that you don't want to see ever again because they told you to leave."

"Maybe one day." Daniel tried to smile as he placed the items back into the box.

"I'll go with you," Vlad blurted out, and Daniel blinked at him. "For support," he hunched up his shoulders as he dropped his gaze, "and stuff." That brought a real smile to Daniel's face as he hugged the younger man.

Vlad, admittedly, worried that having learned about Daniel's secret past might cause some kind of strain between them. He understood now where that scary side came from as Daniel adopted it to keep him safe while living on the streets. Daniel confessed that he was terrified about telling Vlad about what happened between him and his parents and his time on the streets, worrying that it would change his opinion of him. Vlad rolled his eyes because the only thing it did to his opinion was give him a better understanding of the man and from where he came. Yes, Daniel had that side of him that scared Vlad, and yes, Daniel did things in the past that her wasn't proud of, but he wasn't the same person he was at that point in time. He had grown since then, matured and evolved. The person he was now was who Vlad liked and enjoyed spending time with. The past might play a large part in whom Daniel became, but it wasn't all that defined the man.

Vlad also came to understand why Daniel reacted so strongly to Elle turning up after getting in a fight and ditching school. Daniel lived through that kind of thing too, the bullying and running away. He made mistakes that he regretted and wished he could take back but knew that was impossible. He was concerned for his cousin, scared that she would wander down the same path he went down at a much younger age. That was the reason he was determined to get Elle to open up to him and find a way to help her deal with her problems.

"You know, it wasn't necessary to come to a place like this," Vlad said as they were led to a table in the fancy restaurant. "The Nasty Burger may not be my kind of place, but I don't want you to feel forced into taking me somewhere that you can't afford."

"It's not like I don't have money," Daniel told him, pulling out a chair for the younger man.

Vlad felt a bit awkward as he took his seat, and Daniel pushed it in for him. "But this place is probably pretty expensive."

"I think Danny can afford at least some things on the menu," Sam said when she came to stand before their table. She was dressed like the waiters there in black slacks and, strangely, a white collared shirt. Vlad couldn't recall a time when the woman wore white, and it looked weird after seeing her in dark colors most of the time. She sent a smirk at Daniel as she held a notepad and pen, ready to take their orders.

"Just as long as you don't order something like lobster," Daniel joked. "But choose anything you like." He whistled lowly as he glanced over the menu and saw the high prices.

Vlad did the same, seeing if there was anything he could order that wouldn't kill Daniel's budget. "Is a five ounce steak okay?" he questioned, glancing across the table at the other man.

Blue eyes searched the menu until Daniel found it. "Yeah, I think I can manage that. And I'll have, um," he chewed on his lower lip as he scanned the menu, searching for something on the low end of the price range, "the chicken salad." He winced as he handed the menu to Sam.

"Any drinks?" she questioned, noting down their orders. Then she took the menus from them.

"Water is fine," they said at the same time. With a smirk, Sam headed off to put in their order.

"It really wasn't necessary to bring me here," Vlad said, frowning with some concern for the man's finances. He knew Daniel didn't make a whole lot of money, and with paying for college tuition, he couldn't afford to go throwing his money away on expensive meals. "I could always pay for this."

"It's fine," Daniel said, smiling reassuringly at him. "I want to pay. Besides, this is a special occasion, so I wanted to do something special for it."

"It is?" Vlad blinked then furrowed his brow as he tried to puzzle out the man's meaning. What special occasion could it be? He couldn't remember anything special being on that day. It couldn't be Daniel's birthday, because if it was, then the man lied to him about not being around when his birthday came.

"Of course! I know we've done a lot of things together that could qualify as a date, but," Daniel grinned as he leaned on the table, "this is our first official date." His smile stretched a bit wider as Vlad flushed. "So I wanted to make a big deal of it and take you some place nice."

Vlad guessed the man did have a point. Despite all the activities they did together since Daniel came to stay with him, they never officially called any of those things a date. Even after they confessed their feelings, neither of them actually called anything they did a date. This would indeed be the first time they acknowledged that they were indeed on a date. Vlad dropped his gaze, feeling a bit flustered by that fact.

"You don't need to do anything big though," Vlad told him with a tentative glance up toward the man. "I'm perfectly fine doing the same sort of stuff we've been doing all along." Things were much more comfortable that way. While he was used to being in settings like this restaurant from joining his parents for dinner on nights out, being there on a date made him suddenly nervous, even though he spent plenty of time with Daniel and really shouldn't have any reason to feel nervous about anything.

"Indulge me just this once. I don't often get the chance to take you some place fancy."

Vlad frowned as he stared at the smiling face across from him. Then he huffed an exaggerated sigh of exasperation. "Fine," he said, shaking his head. "Just this once. But next time, I get to be the one paying."

Daniel chuckled, not caring at all if they drew any attention from the other patrons for being two men on a date. "All right. If that's the way you want to do it."

"It is indeed how I wish to do it," Vlad said with a curt nod. "I know I come from a wealthy family, but I'm certainly not expecting you to blow all your money on me to take me to fancy restaurants or to buy me expensive presents. The football was an amazing gift, more than I could have ever expected you to get me, and I really appreciate that you would get me something like that, but you don't have to go out of your way to top something like that. I'm happy just spending time with you, doing anything at all. We could just sit at home and cook for ourselves, and that would be perfectly fine with me."

"Well, I'm glad." Daniel smiled as he covered Vlad's hands with his own. "I've seen a friend or two in relationships where their partners were those types that were only happy if they were getting lots of expensive gifts all the time, and I can tell you that's a terrible relationship to be in. Maybe next time, we'll just stay home, but tonight, I want to treat you."

"Once and a while might not be so bad," Vlad admitted with a light flush upon his cheeks.


	16. May 18

Despite the sneers they got from a few of the other patrons, the whole dinner date was actually pretty nice. Being in a high class restaurant was clearly not Daniel's usual kind of place at which to dine. He didn't know which fork was appropriate to use for a salad, but that point hardly seemed to matter when the only one he wanted to impress was Vlad, who didn't care that he didn't know that kind of thing. They enjoyed their meal with pleasant conversation. Daniel became more open about himself ever since revealing the truth about what happened with his parents, seeing no reason to hide anything anymore when his past didn't scare Vlad away. Secrets no longer came between them, and Vlad gradually became more comfortable with simply asking if there was something he wished to know about the man.

With all the friends Daniel had that hung around him, Vlad confessed his continuing jealousy. Daniel chuckled after they met a few his friends and Vlad muttered about being jealous. Desiree was beautiful and intelligent and liked to lean on Daniel for no apparent reason at all sometimes. Daniel couldn't deny that she was pretty, and if he did, Vlad knew he would be lying. But Daniel did assure him that there was no need to worry because Desiree was too focused on her career to consider dating anyone. Daniel got along way too cozily with a bookish man that liked to wear long coats and scarves. They could talk on endlessly about books, and Vlad was surprised by the range of books that Daniel read, from old classic novels to popular books recently coming out. But no matter how friendly he was with other people, Daniel only showed his flirty side to Vlad. He might hug other people, pat them on the back, he even kissed some on the cheeks when greeting them or parting from them, but Vlad was the one that Daniel would hold close and nuzzle his neck and whisper into Vlad's ear until it turned as red as his cheeks.

Last weekend, Daniel dragged Vlad out to try out some roller skates. It seemed like a ridiculous activity to Vlad, who wanted to complain and simply not bother with it. But he decided since meeting Daniel that he wouldn't write things off immediately as something that he would hate. He couldn't truly know if he liked something until he gave it a try. They skated through the park for a couple of hours, and after that, Vlad couldn't say he really liked it. He was very wobbly on the skates, and he fell a few times. Daniel bit his lower lip to hold back his laughter as he helped Vlad back to his feet. It got easier when Daniel held onto his hands, skating backwards before him, as he helped Vlad get used to skating. At the end, he could manage to skate on his own, but his feet were aching after they sat down and yanked off the skates.

When he finished with homework for the day, Vlad headed downstairs and wasn't surprised to find Daniel in the front room. He had his own books and study material out on the coffee table with his glasses sitting atop one notebook. In his hands, he held a phone as he sat cross legged on the couch, simply staring down at the phone. Vlad wandered over the couch and tentatively took a seat next to the man. He glanced at the phone then lifted his gaze to Daniel, who wore a very serious expression with his brow furrowed and his mouth pulled tight. Vlad reached out, placing his hand over the phone and breaking the man's concentration.

"You don't have to contact them if you're not ready," Vlad said him, shifting his hold to squeeze one of Daniel's hands.

"I should though," Daniel mumbled with his gaze still upon the phone. "I should apologize to them myself for everything that I did. I know Jazz will have passed on the message, but it's cowardly to have her apologize for me." He turned his gaze onto Vlad as he frowned. "But it's just so hard to try to reach out to them after all this time."

"It's probably never going to be easy." Vlad frowned, noting the exhaustion on the man's face in that moment of letting his cheerful mask fall. He saw it over the past week as Daniel stressed, fretfully pacing around the room at night with the phone in his hand and trying to build up the courage to actually dial the number of his parents' home. Vlad would be happy to see Daniel reconcile with his parents, but he knew it wouldn't be easy for the man to simply pick up the phone and call his parents. "Maybe you can try after we have dinner." He tugged the phone free from Daniel's hand and set it on the table. Then he stood and dragged Daniel to his feet.

"I don't know," Daniel said warily as he followed Vlad to the kitchen. "If I'm going to call them, I might not want to do it on a full stomach. Nervous energy and all, you know."

"Or maybe eating something might help calm down your nerves," Vlad suggested as he opened the refrigerator to see what they should cook for dinner. Then he tossed a glance toward Daniel, who leaned against the island. "If you want, I could just dial the number for you. If that makes it easier."

"Maybe." Daniel folded his arms, frowning at the floor. "I don't know. What do I even say to them?"

"Hi usually works when greeting someone," Vlad offered, though he doubted that was very helpful. He pulled out the chicken that they got out to thaw earlier and brought it over to the island. "The first step is simply opening the line of communication with them."

It was something that became a habit with Daniel ever since Vlad told him the story about his one horseback riding adventure. Daniel's lips found the spot right at Vlad's hairline where there was a faint scar from when he hit his head on the ground after he fell off the horse. Vlad flushed darkly every time the man did it. He never liked the scar after that event, but he was starting to lose that hate of it every time Daniel kissed it.

"What was that for?" Vlad questioned with only a slight feeling of being flustered by the man's action.

Daniel shrugged with a crooked smile. "Just for being so supportive. Sam could sometimes be a bit pushy when it came to a cause. You should see her whenever she gets ready to protest something, like freeing animals from captivity where their living conditions are horrible or protecting the environment." He chuckled, shaking his head. "I know she just wanted what was best for me, but at that time, I _really_ wasn't in the right place to try talking to my parents again. Dash, on the other hand, always thought it was best to leave the topic alone. We had a good thing going, and he didn't want to drive me away with pressuring me about things in my past." Daniel rolled his bright blue eyes with a hint of amusement. "Though maybe his fear of confronting Kwan about his feelings played a large part in that. But you," he grinned widely, "are supportive without being overbearing about having me contact my parents. I really appreciate that."

Vlad flushed darkly as he ducked his head. "I want you to be happy," he admitted with a quick glance toward Daniel. Then he grabbed some seasoning to put on the chicken before they put the pieces in the oven to cook. "I know I don't know a whole lot about being in a relationship like this."

"Every relationship is different," Daniel pointed out as he helped prepare the chicken. "There's no manual for how to have a perfect relationship." He smirked somewhat. "If there was, maybe there would be fewer divorces in the world. But what I'm trying to say is, no matter how much you try to avoid it, you're bound to get into an argument at some point. People have different opinions. Making bad assumptions about something when you don't have all the facts can lead to fights. But we can find a way to work things out."

"I think the same can be said about you and your parents." Vlad nearly bit his tongue after making the comment, but Daniel didn't look angry. A tinge of sadness crept into his eyes, but that was it. "I only meant that you and your parents love each other. I know you can work things out if you just try. But I know forcing you into it isn't going to be the right way to go about it. I'll help, if I can, but it's ultimately your choice if and when you decide to talk to them again."

"Sometimes I can't believe you're only eighteen when you say things that make you sound so much older." Daniel placed some of the chicken into a baking pan as he finished rubbing the seasoning onto them. Once they finished preparing the chicken, they set the oven to preheat then washed up their hands. "What should we have with it? I think there are some frozen green beans that we could cook. Or we could make a salad."

Vlad pondered for a moment. "I think salad."

When they finished preparing dinner, they served it up onto plates and into bowls then carried their meal into the dining room to eat. As they sat down, Vlad couldn't believe how quickly the year seemed to fly by and how much he, himself, had changed in that time. A frown stretched over his face as he sliced up his chicken. Graduation was less than a month away, and Daniel would be leaving the mansion around then.

"What are you going to do?" Vlad asked suddenly as he glanced over to Daniel, who was shoving a wad of salad into his mouth.

After he chewing rapidly and swallowing, Daniel asked, "What?" His brow wrinkled in his confusion at the younger man's question.

"When my parents come home, what are you going to do?" Vlad poked absently at his food. He didn't want Daniel to leave, but if the man had plans after his time living in the Masters' mansion, Vlad had no right to stop him and forced him to stay there with him. Come September, Vlad would be going off to college. He frowned even more. Why did he have to like Daniel so much when they would be parting so soon?

"I haven't really thought about it yet," Daniel admitted with a soft blush. "I figured I'd cross that bridge when I get to it." He reached over and ruffled Vlad's hair in an action that stopped bothering the man as much as it used to when Daniel first started doing it. "Hm," Daniel hummed as he ran his fingers through Vlad's hair then reached up and yanked his white bangs down to stare at them. "I wonder if I can get this to wash out. It'll be weird if I final meet my parents and have this weird hair."

"It's not weird. I like it," Vlad smirked at him, "Little Badger."

"You," Daniel growled, but it had no heat of anger behind it. He leaned toward Vlad, and their lips brushed against each other. His head tilted, pressing a touch more firmly into the kiss.

When he heard the door open, Vlad jerked away from Daniel, twisting his head around to stare at the doorway into the hall. In a moment, his mother made an appearance with her dark hair drawn back in its usual neat bun. She smiled when she spotted him. After setting down her bags, she strode over to him with her heels clicking upon the floor.

"Oh, I've missed you!" she said as she hugged her arms around him and kissed him on the head.

"Mom!" Vlad hunched his shoulders with an embarrassed blushed that only grew darker when he thought about the kiss he shared with Daniel only moments before his mother arrived.

"It's nice to see you again, Mrs. Masters," Daniel said politely as he stood to greet her.

"Well, it seems the boys didn't destroy the house in our absence," his father said as he joined the rest of them in the dining room.

"I told you there was nothing to worry about," his mother said, giving her husband a roll of her eyes. "Vlad is much too responsible to be destructive, and I had no reason to believe that Daniel would go against our wishes and throw some wild parties."

"Of course I wouldn't, ma'am," Daniel said. "I don't believe in trashing other people's homes."

"See?" She gave her husband a smirk. "He's a good, well behaved young man."

Vlad glanced the man's way, and Daniel grinned down at him. Daniel did have a wild side, and a scary side, but he knew when to behave in front of adults. "How come you came home early?" Vlad questioned, turning toward his parents. He was happy to see them again. He didn't realize just how much he missed them until they arrived home right then. But now that they were home, Daniel would have no reason to stay. Anxiety twisted about inside him, wanting to grab hold of Daniel and make the man stay with him.

"The business deal ended up taking less time than we expected," his father explained, looking rather tired from the trip back home. "We could have stayed a little longer, but we decided we'd rather just come home. We missed you, Son." He smiled then turned his gaze to Daniel and frowned sternly. "I hope you won't be spreading that fashion trend to my son."

"No, Sir!" Daniel shook his head. "Ah, it was a bit of an accident." He ran his hand through his badger hair. "Oh! If you are hungry, we have plenty of chicken and salad prepared."

"That would be lovely!" his mother said with a hand to her chest. "The food on the plane was rather unappetizing." She wrinkled her nose in mild disgust. "And I'm feeling absolutely famished."

"You two sit," Daniel instructed. "I'll go fix you some plates." He headed out of the room and toward the kitchen.

His father took a seat at the head of the table as his mother took Daniel's seat next to Vlad. "How was everything while we were away?" she asked, brushing a loose lock of Vlad's hair back behind his ear.

"It was all right," Vlad said, shifting awkwardly as he wondered how he would ever explain to his parents about his relationship with Daniel. Would they be okay with it? Would they hate him for being involved with another man? He decided to push those questions away for another time. His parents deserved a nice night of relaxation after the long trip back home.


	17. June 10

After Daniel brought in their dinner, Vlad's mother launched into stories about their business trip, telling them about all the various sights they went to see when they had free time. They had pictures they took, but neither of his parents felt like fishing the cameras out of their bags, so they decided to save the slide show for another night.

"Oh!" Daniel perked up, now sitting on the opposite side of the table from Vlad. "You should hear Vlad play the violin. He's gotten really good at it."

Vlad felt a soft blush creeping onto his cheeks as his mother gasped in surprise.

"You play the violin now?" his father questioned as his brow lifted and his gaze fell upon his son.

"Only for a little while now," Vlad admitted, pushing the last piece of chicken around his plate.

"I'm impressed. We go away for a year, and you pick up a new talent." His father smiled with a touch of pride in his son.

After they finished with dinner, and Daniel and Vlad washed all the dishes, they headed into the front room at Daniel's insistence that Vlad play something for them. Practicing with Ember was fun and easy as she helped guide him in how to properly play and learn a song. But standing there in front of Daniel and his parents with the violin pressed under his chin, nervousness built up inside him. The first attempt to play resulted in squeaky sounds that made his parents wince painfully. Vlad took a deep breath and closed his eyes, pretending he was alone as he practiced. The second attempt was much better, and though he made a few errors, it still sounded fairly good. His parents applauded when he finished, amazed that he was able to pick up playing the violin so quickly.

Daniel only stayed for a week longer after Vlad's parents returned from their business trip. Vlad was disappointed as he sat at the foot of the bed in the room that Daniel used since his arrival and watched the man pack up all his belongings so that he would be ready to leave in the morning. His hands curled tightly around the edge of the bed as he resisted the urge to tell Daniel to just stay. He didn't really have to leave, right? He could stay a little while longer. Maybe he could stay until August or September when Vlad would be heading off to college. They wouldn't be able to act the same way that they did before his parents returned. Vlad already saw a change in the way Daniel acted because of Vlad's parents being around them. Daniel was slightly more distant, not being his usual touchy, hugging self. Vlad was somewhat thankful about that since he still wasn't sure how to go about telling his parents that he had feelings for another man.

"Don't look so sad," Daniel said, frowning as he came to sit next to Vlad on the bed. He threw an arm around Vlad's shoulders and hugged him close. "It's not like I'm leaving forever."

"It won't be the same without you though," Vlad mumbled with his blue eyed gaze upon the floor. It was strange, wanting Daniel to stay with him so badly when in the beginning, he didn't want the man staying at the mansion while his parents were away.

"I'll still be around. And if it makes you feel better," Daniel reached into Vlad's pants pocket and retrieved the cell phone that Vlad carried, mostly for emergencies since he didn't have many people to call, "I'm going to program my number in. Then whenever you need to talk to me or you want to do something with me, you can just give me a call." He fiddled with the phone for a moment then handed it back to Vlad, who stared down at the screen that showed the contact listing for Daniel Fenton and the phone number by his name. "It's not going to be that bad." Daniel chuckled as he ruffled Vlad's hair.

With a sigh, Vlad stuffed the phone back into his pocket. "I'm sure my parents won't mind if you stay here until the end of the school year. My mom practically loves you."

"Mothers always seem to love boys that actually do the cleaning up after a meal," Daniel said, grinning playfully. "Your dad on the other hand." He winced. "I think he suspects I'll be a bad influence on you."

"Oh yes, you're quite terrible," Vlad said with a hint of a teasing note. "I won't make you stay." His mouth stretched thin as he dropped his gaze. "As much as I want to just keep you all to myself, I know that's just selfish of me. You have a life to live, and that's not going to involve me all the time. It's going to be a bit lonely here, though, without you."

"I have something to give you." Daniel crossed the room and dug around in his bag. When he returned to the bed, he took Vlad's hand and placed something in his palm.

Vlad held it up and stared at it, twisting it around within his fingers. It was a simple silver band with a strange marking engraved on the outside. "A ring?" He turned to Daniel as his brow knitted.

Daniel grinned as he nodded, taking the ring from Vlad's hand. Then he held up the ring beside another one that he had kept. When the two rings were lined up side by side, the engravings on each of them formed a heart. "I know it might be a little silly," he admitted with an embarrassed smile. "Paulina helped me think of something. It's, um," he blushed a little darker as he handed the ring back to Vlad, "like to symbolize that we're parts and together we make a whole."

"That might be the cheesiest thing ever," Vlad point out as he slipped the ring onto his finger. He smiled fondly at it with a soft blush on his cheeks. "But I do love it."

"Good. I was afraid you might think it was a little stupid." Daniel chuckled as he put on his own ring. "Even if we're apart for a while, that won't lessen our feelings for each other." He reached up, cupping Vlad's cheek as he turned the younger man's face toward him. Then he leaned in, and they shared a slow, gentle kiss that made Vlad's heart quicken and he wished he could simply stay in that moment forever. The clearing of a throat made the pair spring apart, Daniel jumping to his feet and taking a step back like distancing himself would erase any evidence that they were just kissing each other.

"What's the meaning of this?" Vlad's father demanded as he folded his arms, looking rather displeased with what he walked in on.

"Dad, I can explain," Vlad said quickly as he shot to his feet, scrambling for what to tell his father. "I, um, you see-" He still had no idea how he was supposed to tell his parents something like this! Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and decided the only way now was simply to dive in head first. "I like Daniel! We like each other." He bit his lower lip, waiting to see how his father would react to that news.

His father snapped blue eyes onto Daniel, who stood tensely by the bed. "And how long has this," his nose wrinkled, "relationship been going on?"

"If you mean when did we first announce our feeling for each other, then February," Daniel answered with only a touch of the joker in his voice. "But if you mean when did we officially start saying we're dating, that was only last month."

His father narrowed his eyes, still not happy with this news. "My son is going to graduate top of his class. He's going to attend an ivy league university. He's going to have a successful career. I will not have him wasting that opportunity because some," he gritted his teeth, glowering at Daniel, "man comes along to corrupt him."

"He didn't corrupt me!" Vlad insisted, frowning at his father.

"Sir, I can assure you that I have no intention of distracting Vlad from succeeding in life," Daniel said calmly. "In fact, I insist on him putting his focus on schoolwork before anything else. Your son cares a great deal about his education. I want him to succeed in life too."

Vlad watched the two men as they stared at each other, neither one seeming to want to be the first to break eye contact. He tried to think of something to say to break the tense silence, but he couldn't think of anything that wouldn't make the whole situation worse somehow.

"I can't say I'm pleased to learn that my son is," his father's mouth pursed with an unpleasant wrinkling of his nose, "gay, but," he heaved a defeated sigh, "as long as your relationship won't prove to be a distraction to his education, I can't find reason to force you to end the relationship. However," he pointed a finger at Daniel as his eyes narrowed dangerously, "if his grades drop in any way, I will make sure you two never see each other again. My son is not going to throw his potential away for you."

"I would never allow him to do that," Daniel admitted honestly.

Things were tense that night when they sat down to dinner. His mother was no more happy about learning of Vlad's sexuality than her husband, but she took it more gracefully, embracing Daniel and saying that she couldn't have picked a better man for her son to date. But dinner was filled with quiet small talk that went through moments of silence that felt almost crushing to Vlad.

Daniel left the next morning, and Vlad didn't want to let go when he hugged him goodbye. Back in October, he never imagined how hard it would be to watch the man walk out of the mansion, knowing he wouldn't be coming back. With a tired sigh, Vlad put his focus back into his schoolwork. It was almost graduation, but he saw that as no excuse to slack off on his studies. His parents questioned him a lot about his relationship with Daniel, wanting to know to what extent their relationship had gone. He was happy Daniel wasn't there when his mother started lecturing him about protection and that simply because pregnancy was off the table, that didn't mean he should ignore using a condom because there were still other risks. Vlad felt like the blush would never leave his face by the time his mother finished talking and he was able to explain that they weren't even close to being ready to take their relationship that far.

Graduation finally came, and Vlad couldn't stop searching the crowd for Daniel. He sent a message to the man, inviting him to attend the ceremony, but he hadn't heard word from Daniel in more than a week. He didn't want to be that overbearing type of person that needed to know everything that Daniel was doing at every moment of the day, but he was starting to worry about the man not responding to him. Daniel said that Vlad could call to talk or to ask to see him. But then why was the man ignoring him now? This was supposed to be a big day for him. He was graduating valedictorian, and he would be giving a speech to the class. He wanted Daniel to be there to share the moment with him.

When he stood at the podium to give his speech, Vlad searched again for Daniel, his heart sinking when he didn't spot the familiar badger hair anywhere in the crowd. His gaze dropped to his notes, disappointment rising in him as he started to speak. The moment lost some of its luster when he knew one of the people he really wanted there wasn't present to hear his speech. The crowd applauded when he finished, and the rest of the ceremony passed by him in a bit of a blur.

"That speech was wonderful," his mother said when she found him at the end, and she drew him into a tight embrace.

"Excellent speech, Son," his father said, patting him on the back.

Vlad smiled, glad that his parents were there, but he still wished Daniel was there too. He caught sight of Olivia getting her picture taken with some friends. When she noticed him, she scowled before turning her back to him with a flip of blonde hair. She was clearly still bitter over the fact that he didn't bring Daniel to her precious birthday party.

"That was a great speech, man!" Thomas said, giving him a thumbs up as he passed by Vlad on his way to meet up with some other people.

"Should I ask about that?" His father frowned most unpleasantly as he stared sternly at his son.

"We talk football sometimes," Vlad explained. Thomas really wasn't that bad of a guy when it came to jocks. A number of other graduates came up to tell him he did a good job on the speech, and a few even wanted to get a picture with him as a lasting memory of all their classmates. Vlad didn't see Jared, and for that he was thankful. Ever since the day Daniel stood up to him, Jared had kept clear of him, but Vlad wouldn't feel completely relieved until he was no longer in the same school as the bully.

"I think someone wants to congratulate the graduate," his mother said, giving him a little nudge and pointing off into the crowd.

Vlad frowned in confusion as he turned his head to see about what his mother was talking. Blinking in surprise, his mouth fell open when he spotted Daniel making his way through all the graduates to find Vlad. His parents might not be happy with Vlad's sexuality, but they slowly came to accept it. He still caught a slight sneer on his father's face at the announcement of Daniel's presence. When he reached them, Daniel swept Vlad into a hug, squeezing his arms around the graduate.

"That was a great speech," Daniel said, smiling as he released the man.

"You heard it?" Vlad blinked several times, his brain fumbling to understand. "But I didn't see you in the crowd."

"I didn't quite make in time to grab a seat." Daniel chuckled awkwardly. "But I definitely wasn't going to miss this big moment."

"We'll give you two a moment," his mother said before she started ushering her husband off so that the two of them could speak privately.

"It seems they don't entirely hate me." Daniel stared after them then brought his gaze back around to Vlad.

"I thought-" Vlad dropped his gaze with a frown. "You weren't responding so I was afraid maybe I did something wrong."

"Sorry about that." Daniel took hold of Vlad's hand, clasping it tightly. "I went to see my parents."

Vlad snapped his head up, eyes widening as his mouth parted in another look of shock. "What happened?" He cringed back. "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to."

Daniel shook his head as he smiled. "No, it's okay." He reached up and ran his free hand through his hair. "It was pretty scary going back home. I wasn't really sure what to expect, and it took a lot to force myself to finally just knock on the door. I think I spent about three days just sitting in front of the house before I could do it." The corner of his mouth twitched in an almost smile. "When my dad answered the door, I couldn't even think of anything to say. We stood there just staring at each other for about five minutes before he pulled me into a crushing hug." Daniel chuckled, though it held an awkward note to it. "Turns out, my parents were pretty much hoping every day that I would walk back through that door. My dad really regretted telling me to leave, and even though Jazz passed my number onto him, he couldn't work up the courage to call me."

"I guess you two are alike," Vlad said, chuckling at the pout that formed on the man's face. "You were both too scared to contact the other, but you both really wanted to reconnect."

"Oops, sorry!"

Daniel winced. "And speaking of my parents," he threw a cautious glance over his shoulder, "I hopped out of the car so I would make it in time to catch your speech while they went to park the car."

Vlad stared at the large man apologizing as he made his way through the crowd toward them. He didn't look much different from the picture that Daniel kept in his box, except that he was older with the bottom of his hair turned white. He still wore the same bright orange jumpsuit, and behind him, Vlad saw his wife dressed similarly in a blue jumpsuit. She still looked as lovely as in the picture, though her brown hair was cut much shorter now. When her violet gaze spotted them, she smiled and waved a black gloved hand at them.

"There's my boy!" The man reached them and slapped a hand to Daniel's back, nearly knocking him over. "Jack Fenton," he said as he held out a large hand to Vlad.

"And I'm Maddie," the woman said with hand to her chest. "We're Danny's parents."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Vlad greeted politely with a smile. "I'm Vlad Masters."

"Ah, you're the one!" Maddie pulled him into a hug and kissed him on the cheek. "Daniel told us you encouraged him to come home and talk with us."

Vlad flushed as he glanced toward Daniel after he was released. "I didn't really do anything special," he admitted. "I only thought it would be nice if he could reconcile with you."

"And that was all the push he needed," Maddie said, squeezing Vlad's shoulder. "So I thank you for giving us our son back."

"And when he told us about you, we just had to come with him to meet you," Jack said with a big grin that had Daniel looking like he wanted to groan from embarrassment. "I can't say I ever expected my son to be gay." Jack folded his arms as he frowned.

"Bisexual, Dad," Daniel insisted. "Though that doesn't matter all that much, I guess." He took hold of Vlad's hand again and tugged he graduate closer to him. "Since the only one I care about is this guy."

Daniel gave Vlad a kiss on the cheek, gaining several gasps from the crowd around them when they saw it, but Vlad couldn't care at that moment what any of them thought about him and the fact that he was in a relationship with a man. Everything felt perfect at that moment. He graduated high school with a bright future ahead of him. His parents were proud of him. He had a boyfriend that he cared deeply for and who returned those feelings. The fact that Daniel managed to reconcile with his parents was simply adding icing to the cake. Vlad would be forever thankful that Daniel came into his life and opened him to the world around him.


End file.
